OPEA

State workers rally at Capitol for pay raise, increase in benefits

By Tim Talley

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY – Chanting “it’s our turn,” state workers brought their demand for a pay raise to the state Capitol Tuesday and booed a legislative leader who hinted that state employees may not get all they want.

About 500 state workers called for a $2,700 across-the-board annual pay raise and better benefits at a rally where Gov. Brad Henry and other officials thanked them for their service and expressed support for their demands.

State worker pay has not increased since October 2006 and they have received two pay raises in the past seven years.

“It is time that we do something about it,” said Henry, who has proposed across-the-board pay raises of at least 5 percent for state workers. “We owe you. It is your turn.”

But Senate co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, told state workers the pay raise plan may be tough to accomplish in a tight budget year. A $2,700 pay raise for the state’s 34,000 workers would cost about $90 million a year.

“There’s not a whole lot of extra money this year,” Coffee said as members of the crowd booed. “I know my message isn’t popular. It will be very difficult to do.”

State employees rallied a day after legislation that would have recalculated state workers’ health benefit allowance and provided money for a pay raise was pulled from the House agenda. The measure was opposed by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

Under the benefit plan, state workers can choose from several health plans and, if their insurance plan costs less than their benefit allowance, they receive the difference in cash to supplement their salaries.

But some lawmakers say the system has created incentives that have driven up the taxpayer-funded cost of employee benefits without improving health coverage.

State workers, some carrying signs that read “$2,700 Now” and “No Benefit Cut,” shouted their demands for a pay raise as members of the House and Senate appeared to show their support.

“What are you here for?” said OPEA deputy director Scott Barger.

“Pay raise,” the workers shouted back.

“When do we want it?” Barger said.

“Now,” responded the workers.

“We’ve got to have a pay raise. Two pay raises in seven years is a great injustice to state employees,” Barger said.

“We’re the ones who have compassion for the elderly. We’re the ones who go out there and take care of the poor,” he said. “But there’s folks out there who say there’s too many of us.”

“It’s time we make our state employees a priority,” said Sen. Kenneth Corn, D-Poteau. “If this Legislature does not act, hold these members accountable.”

House Democratic Leader Danny Morgan of Prague said lawmakers need to raise state worker salaries to stop the turnover of state workers to higher paying private sector jobs.

“We’ve got to stop the hemorrhaging,” Morgan said.

State workers are asking for a market-pay plan that would bring salaries in line with their counterparts in the private sector. OPEA estimates that state worker salaries are 12 percent lower on average than the private sector.

OPEA also wants a 4 percent increase in the cost-of-living adjustment for state retirees.

Employee health benefit plan measure dies in House

By Tim Talley

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY – Legislation that would recalculate state workers’ health benefit allowance and provide money for a pay raise for state employees will not be heard in the Oklahoma House this year after failing to win support, the measure’s author said last week.

But lawmakers will continue working with the state workers union on a plan to restructure the way the state pays for employee health benefits to free up millions of tax dollars for a pay raise for workers without any change in health coverage, said state Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow.

“The issue is not going away,” Peterson said. “It’s an unsustainable program, the rate of growth in the benefits. It’s going to have to be restructured.”

The measure, which had mixed support when it was approved by the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee a week ago, involves the health benefit allowance available to state employees.

Workers can choose from several health plans and, if their insurance plan costs less than their benefit allowance, they receive the difference in cash. However, the system has created incentives that have driven up the taxpayer-funded cost of employee benefits without improving health coverage.

A state worker whose spouse already has insurance through another job can still add that spouse to the lowest-cost state plan to reap the cash difference provided through the benefit allowance.

For most workers, the reward for doing that totals about $80 per month, but the state pays an additional $553 each month to cover the spouse who already has full health coverage and an additional $889 for a family.

Peterson said the state is wasting hundreds of dollars every month to give an extra $80 to an employee. “In fact, the cost of benefits in 2001 was $129 million and has now grown to $393 million,” he said.

Peterson said 96 percent of state workers are not choosing more expensive health insurance options and instead take cash to supplement their salaries. Fewer people in the higher option health plans means they become more expensive for those who are in it.

The legislation would take the excess cash out of the benefit system, freeing up about $70 million a year and reducing the duplication of coverage. That would free up millions of additional dollars to support the pay raise.

The state currently pays 100 percent of the cost of an employee’s health insurance costs and 75 percent of the cost of dependent coverage. Peterson said that would remain the same under his bill.

But the change was opposed by the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, which represents about 34,000 state workers. OPEA officials have said the change would cost a family with children about $250 per month.

“There’s been so much consternation on this bill,” Peterson said.

OPEA has proposed $2,700 across-the-board pay raises for state workers this year, a plan that would cost about $90 million to implement. The plan is slightly more expensive than Gov. Brad Henry’s proposed 5-percent pay hike for state workers.

Peterson said his bill would provide the largest state employee pay raise of any option proposed this year.

The measure is House Bill 3108.