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The doors to the Delaware General Assembly’s powerful and often mysterious Joint Finance Committee swung open to the public at one minute to 2 p.m. today.
With no fanfare for the event, the committee then voted to endorse a 2.5% pay cut for all state employees.
Just as Gov. Jack Markell was preparing to sign legislation in New Castle that subjects the General Assembly and its committees to most of the same Freedom of Information Act rules that apply to other governing bodies, staff from the Controller General’s office allowed members of the media and labor groups to enter the committee’s session, which historically had been off-limits to all but the panel’s 12 legislators.
However, the budget-drafting committee engaged in none of the careful bargaining and negotiations that are rumored to take place when the doors are closed.
There was no discussion on the motions to cut state pay made by the committee’s Vice-Chair Sen. Nancy W. Cook, D-Kenton.
The 2.5% salary reduction would apply to all state employees except teachers, who would see their pay cut by 1.5% and lose two paid professional development days. Overall, the loss of those days plus the salary cut will add up to a 2.5% reduction in pay for teachers, said Ann Visalli, director of the state Office of Management and Budget.
The committee has yet to make any changes to pay structures for the state’s higher education employees. Cook said the Controller’s office is still trying to determine how funding from the federal stimulus packages can be used to pay for those expenses.
Five committee members voted against the pay cuts: Sen. David B. McBride, D-Hawk’s Nest; Sen. Catherine L. Cloutier, R-Heatherbrooke; Sen. Dori A. Conner, R-Penn Acres; Rep. Joseph E. Miro, R-Pike Creek Valley; and Rep. Joseph W. Booth, R-Georgetown.
The committee also approved a budget epilogue entry that stipulates pensions will be calculated based on an employee’s base salary as of June 30, before any pay cut would take effect.
Savings from the pay cut would total approximately $28.8 million. Another $7.9 million in savings would come from the elimination of 485 vacant jobs — a motion unanimously approved by the committee.
After the vote, Cook stressed that the plan includes no lay-offs.
“I think making a choice between laying off people and a reduction in pay is one of the hardest things we’ve had to do,” she said.
Markell’s budget plan called for an 8% reduction in employee pay across the board, which he said would save $91.7 million and put a considerable dent in Delaware’s $800 million projected budget shortfall for 2010.
Visalli said the committee’s 2.5% cut leaves considerable work to be done to balance the budget, but if the plan represents a compromise it could be a good thing.
“We have a lot of cutting left to do, and in addition we still have revenue bills left to pass,” she said. “It’s not what we wanted, but if [the 2.5% plan] helps us get the rest of the revenue bills passed, it was helpful.”
Even though the committee’s cuts weren’t nearly as deep as what Markell was seeking, state employee groups are not pleased.
Michael Begatto, executive director of Delaware’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the cut, combined with increased state health insurance premiums and a hiring freeze, will amount to much more than 2.5%.
“We’re already doing more with less, and now we’re doing more for less,” he said.
Begatto said he was most disappointed with the fact that the plan makes no allowances for how much an employee makes. The pay cut will be far more painful for workers at the bottom of the pay scale, he argued.
“People are going to go from work at a state agency right to the lines to apply for food stamps and assistance,” he said.
The doors to the Delaware General Assembly’s powerful and often mysterious Joint Finance Committee swung open to the public at one minute to 2 p.m. today.
With no fanfare for the event, the committee then voted to endorse a 2.5% pay cut for all state employees.
Just as Gov. Jack Markell was preparing to sign legislation in New Castle that subjects the General Assembly and its committees to most of the same Freedom of Information Act rules that apply to other governing bodies, staff from the Controller General’s office allowed members of the media and labor groups to enter the committee’s session, which historically had been off-limits to all but the panel’s 12 legislators.
However, the budget-drafting committee engaged in none of the careful bargaining and negotiations that are rumored to take place when the doors are closed.
There was no discussion on the motions to cut state pay made by the committee’s Vice-Chair Sen. Nancy W. Cook, D-Kenton.
The 2.5% salary reduction would apply to all state employees except teachers, who would see their pay cut by 1.5% and lose two paid professional development days. Overall, the loss of those days plus the salary cut will add up to a 2.5% reduction in pay for teachers, said Ann Visalli, director of the state Office of Management and Budget.
The committee has yet to make any changes to pay structures for the state’s higher education employees. Cook said the Controller’s office is still trying to determine how funding from the federal stimulus packages can be used to pay for those expenses.
Five committee members voted against the pay cuts: Sen. David B. McBride, D-Hawk’s Nest; Sen. Catherine L. Cloutier, R-Heatherbrooke; Sen. Dori A. Conner, R-Penn Acres; Rep. Joseph E. Miro, R-Pike Creek Valley; and Rep. Joseph W. Booth, R-Georgetown.
The committee also approved a budget epilogue entry that stipulates pensions will be calculated based on an employee’s base salary as of June 30, before any pay cut would take effect.
Savings from the pay cut would total approximately $28.8 million. Another $7.9 million in savings would come from the elimination of 485 vacant jobs — a motion unanimously approved by the committee.
After the vote, Cook stressed that the plan includes no lay-offs.
“I think making a choice between laying off people and a reduction in pay is one of the hardest things we’ve had to do,” she said.
Markell’s budget plan called for an 8% reduction in employee pay across the board, which he said would save $91.7 million and put a considerable dent in Delaware’s $800 million projected budget shortfall for 2010.
Visalli said the committee’s 2.5% cut leaves considerable work to be done to balance the budget, but if the plan represents a compromise it could be a good thing.
“We have a lot of cutting left to do, and in addition we still have revenue bills left to pass,” she said. “It’s not what we wanted, but if [the 2.5% plan] helps us get the rest of the revenue bills passed, it was helpful.”
Even though the committee’s cuts weren’t nearly as deep as what Markell was seeking, state employee groups are not pleased.
Michael Begatto, executive director of Delaware’s American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the cut, combined with increased state health insurance premiums and a hiring freeze, will amount to much more than 2.5%.
“We’re already doing more with less, and now we’re doing more for less,” he said.
Begatto said he was most disappointed with the fact that the plan makes no allowances for how much an employee makes. The pay cut will be far more painful for workers at the bottom of the pay scale, he argued.
“People are going to go from work at a state agency right to the lines to apply for food stamps and assistance,” he said.
