Fw: Hey STRS...you're a "state entity," aren't you? Remember that pay freeze (not a cut but a freeze) that Dr. Leone brought up?
Pay cut yet to catch on among state entities
By Mark Niquette, Jim Siegel and James Nash
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
That includes other statewide elected officials, the Ohio Supreme Court, the legislature and state university administrators, including college presidents.
Some officeholders are considering ways to cut their budgets to save money in the recession, but none has volunteered to join Strickland's call for pay reductions, which includes his salary.
Strickland isn't calling for cuts in state entities not under his authority, and he thinks they should make payroll decisions "based on their particular budget situations," spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said.
Treasurer Kevin L. Boyce is cutting 10 percent of his agency's operating budget and freezing the salaries of 12 directors for this fiscal year, spokeswoman Kim Kowalski said.
Auditor Mary Taylor is "considering a wide range of options" to reduce spending but has not committed to a pay reduction, spokesman Chris Abbruzzese said.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office also said that cost savings are being pursued but that no decisions have been made and negotiations with unions haven't started.
"Please recognize that the proposed budget is in a very preliminary stage of the legislative process," G. Thomas Worley, Brunner's chief of staff, wrote to employees in a memo this week. "It is subject to extensive discussion and amendment in the months to come."
The Ohio Supreme Court echoed Worley's comments. The state's highest court pays its staff and justices as well as part of the salaries of judges across the state. The judicial salaries can't be reduced under the Ohio Constitution, but Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer is keeping pay at 2008 levels.
As for nonjudicial Supreme Court staff members, there's neither a salary freeze nor a plan for raises, court spokesman Chris Davey said. He noted that the entire court budget is less than 0.5 percent of state spending.
Attorney General Richard Cordray's 1,300 employees aren't under a salary freeze, but spokeswoman Holly Hollingsworth said negotiations with the office's three unions are scheduled for this year. Those agreements could set the tone for nonunion employees, who include office lawyers.
State legislators did not see their $60,583 base pay increase this year, and no cuts are planned for them or their staffs. Both House and Senate officials said they are holding down spending in other ways.
"We have moved aggressively to cut the size of our budget," said Keary McCarthy, spokesman for Speaker Armond Budish, D-Beachwood. When Democrats took over the House this year, they cut the payroll by 6 percent, he said.
Matthew Schuler, chief of staff for Senate President Bill M. Harris, R-Ashland, said the Senate returned 8.3 percent of its budget to the general-revenue fund at the end of fiscal year 2008, and it plans to make a similar contribution when this year ends June 30.
"Knowing things were going to get tighter, we intentionally did not fill positions," he said.
State universities are working on efficiency initiatives to save money, but university boards of trustees decide the pay of administrative staff members, said Michael Chaney, a spokesman for the Ohio Board of Regents.
The Strickland administration announced this week that as part of the governor's plan to balance the upcoming budget and limit layoffs, he's asking employees to take pay cuts of up to 6 percent and pick up part of the cost of dental-, vision- and life-insurance coverage to save up to $200 million a year.
Pay cuts would be zero, 4 percent, 4.5 percent, 5 percent or 6 percent depending on the salary; those such as Strickland earning $125,000 or more a year face the 6 percent cut.
But the cuts are only a proposal and are subject to negotiations with state unions. The expectation is that whatever agreement is reached with unions will be applied to nonunion employees as well. About 14,600 of the state's 60,500 workers are "exempt" -- not under a union contract.
The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is the state's largest union, representing 35,000 workers. Instead of pay cuts, it wants Strickland to cut the ranks of middle managers and consider forgoing the last round of a state income-tax cut.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 12:59 PM
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