Cabinet pay hikes divide legislators
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Members of Gov. Linda Lingle's Cabinet might still get raises this year, although the issue appears far from resolved.
Meanwhile, the state's judges probably will have to wait until next year to see if they will get a bump in their pay.
The House Labor Committee yesterday amended a Senate-passed resolution to reject the raises for the governor and other top state executives. It deleted any reference to opposing the raises. The decision was unanimous with four Democrats and three Republicans voting.
Because the two houses of the Legislature are far apart on the issue, a decision will likely have to come out of a House-Senate conference committee. Both houses need to reject the recommendations of the Executive Salary Commission to nullify any raises.
The debate so far has been highly partisan, albeit circular. Majority Democrats in both houses say that if the administration's position is there is no money to pay for raises granted by an arbitrator for 23,000 white-collar workers who belong to the Hawai'i Government Employees Association, there shouldn't be any money for Cabinet members.
The Republican Lingle, on the other hand, questions how the Legislature can find money for the HGEA increases and not pay for raises for top executive posts.
The Labor Committee could have shelved Senate Resolution 118, effectively letting the Cabinet raises go through.
But Labor Chairman Marcus Oshiro, D-39th (Wahiawa), instead altered the resolution to request reports from state agencies explaining how much more the raises would cost in terms of retirement and accrued sick leave and vacation benefits.
The raises for the governor, department heads and their deputies would cost the state as much as $470,000 more each year. The governor's salary would increase to $112,000 in 2006, an 18 percent increase over $94,780. By 2013, whoever is sitting in the governor's chair would be making $128,652.79.
There would be four pay tiers for department heads, who all make $85,302 a year. The attorney general would receive the heftiest raises of anyone getting a recommendation in the report. The state's top lawyer would get $105,000 beginning July 1, an increase of 23 percent.
Sherrilee K. Dodson, vice chairwoman of the commission, submitted written testimony stating that the panel was created by the Legislature, in large part, in recognition that executive salaries did not increase since 1990.
As a result, she wrote, state executives are paid "grossly outdated salaries when compared to other states and the counties." The raises recommended by the commission "will both attract talented individuals and recognize their qualifications," she said.
The Labor Committee yesterday, meanwhile, amended Senate Resolution 119 to reject a section of a recommendation by the Judicial Salary Commission to give raises to judges and justices. Because the Senate has rejected the entire recommendation, the commission probably will come back with new recommendations next year.
The commission recommended 14 percent raises across the board beginning July 1, 2005, and 3.5 percent raises in the ensuing seven years. The Labor Committee voted to approve a resolution rejecting the second part of that equation, which would effectively kill the whole package.
Oshiro said because the raises were not scheduled to kick in until July 2005, the commission can still submit the same recommendation for a 14 percent increase in the next legislative session in time for them to take effect.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
