The story was reported by the Baton Rouge Advocate.
The state Civil Service Commission announced Thursday it will consider suspending merit pay raises of some 60,000 state employees at its June 3 meeting.The lawmakers waging war on the state workforce have been complaining about the $70 million dollars or so that they say the merit raises cost every year.
The proposal affects the 4 percent pay increase classified state employees would get on their job anniversary dates starting July 1.
Commission Chairman James Smith said the suspension of authority to grant the merit raises is being considered because state government is “facing an unprecedented budget crisis in the coming fiscal year.”
“These difficult and challenging times call for fiscal prudence and shared sacrifice among all of us who serve our fellow citizens,” Smith said in a news release issued by Civil Service.
Let's back up for a second and think about who gets those raises. Those employees are people who make an average of less than $40 thousand a year. These are people who are likely to spend every extra penny that they receive. Every dollar of those merit raises gets spent at local grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, and restaurants.
So, taking the raises away means that these lawmakers, and the Civil Service Commission appointees doing their bidding, are taking $70 million out of the state economy during a recession, at exactly the time we can least afford it.
Nice work, lawmakers. You have any more damage you'd like to do to our state before term limits kick in?
