Monday, March 10, 2008
- Scott Barger
On the eve of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association Lobby Day, in which thousands of state employees will converge on Oklahoma’s Capitol, Representative Ron Peterson, R-Tulsa, announced the death of his controversial House Bill 3108.
In his press release dated March 10, 2008, Peterson gave credit to OPEA and election-year pressures for derailing his efforts to reform the state employee benefit allowance.
“We had an opportunity for a real win-win solution to a long-term funding problem facing state government, but the lack of visible support from the state agencies, state employees, and election-year pressures, have derailed the employee pay raise bill,’ said Peterson.
Peterson claimed that HB 3108 would have reformed the way the state pays for employee health benefits, freeing up millions to fund a pay raise for workers without any loss in health coverage.
OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley was excited upon learning about the demise of HB 3108.
“We are glad to see HB 3108 and the attack on the state employee benefit allowance go away” said Zearley. “In its current form, this bill would have harmed state employees. There were no assurances that any change to the formula would have resulted in the millions of dollars it would have taken to make state employees whole.”
On the other side of the ledger, OPEA advocated for compensation reform.
“OPEA advocated for a $2,700 pay raise, as well as a trigger that would have provided automatic pay raises for state employees of at least five percent when state revenues climbed more than three percent,” continued Zearley. “This language would have resulted in state employees receiving 20 pay raises in the last 28 years, which is significant reform in our books.”
“OPEA still insists that state employees are due a pay raise and a long-term market compensation commitment from legislators,’ concluded Zearley. “We have taken all the steps to reform, investigate, study and document the plight of state employees. It’s time for the state’s leadership to invest in its workforce.”
"One battle has been won for a time," said Zearley. "The battle for a pay raise is still ongoing. Lobby Day will help us convince the legislature that we are a unified bloc and that our pay raise is due."