Posted on 03/27/2007 8:23:20 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is expected to announce today pay raises of up to 27 percent for more than 50 top officials, saying the state must boost salaries to remain competitive with local governments that pay more.
The new salaries taking effect April 1 won't cost taxpayers more, at least initially, but they will force state departments to make cuts or otherwise absorb the raises within existing personnel budgets. The hefty raises - 10 agency heads, for example, would see their annual salaries grow to $175,000, a 23 percent increase - come as Schwarzenegger is preaching the need for fiscal restraint to end chronic budget shortfalls.
"Because these raises are purely discretionary," said Roger Niello of Sacramento, the ranking Republican on the Assembly budget committee, "it does make it difficult from a public perception standpoint."
At the same time, Niello and others said, California needs to pay competitively to attract skilled managers to run large, complex bureaucracies.
"It's important for the folks running these agencies to be compensated fairly, and right now that's not the case," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor. He emphasized that the raises are "budget neutral" and said they would help "recruit and retain the best and the brightest."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Fifty-two raises
The raises, ranging from 7 to 27 percent, and costing up to $1 million total, would cover 52 Cabinet secretaries and department directors - senior administrators who manage agencies such as health and human services, food and agriculture, and the California Highway Patrol. By contrast, most rank-and-file state workers are slated to receive a 3.3percent raise in the next fiscal year.
arnold waste ping
Ridiculous. Let those who want to jump ship to local government do so. There will be plenty more people ready to move up in the state bureaucracy. People line up around the block for those cush state jobs.
I hope all you Kali pubbies are happy that Arnie was electable but Tom McClintock wasn't, so you threw your support behind Arnie.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Wednesday that includes a provision added in the waning days of the legislative session allowing his administration to nearly double the pay of 50 top state bosses. ... top administrators would qualify for as much as $258,125. Under current law, salaries ... top out at about $138,000.The administration said the increase was needed to attract a qualified leader at the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which runs the troubled prison system.
...There is no plan to extend it beyond the prisons director and possibly the CHP commissioner, she said.
The old competitive threat kanard. Coming from the public sector is laughable. All this does is bunp the pay schedule for the next 200,000 zombies which will accellerate their retirement pay as well. They could fire 1/3 of state workers and no one would notice.
By the way not one state worker was fired after the 9/11 economic meltdown. Not one.
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