Statehouse politicians probe paychecks, with a paltry payoff

A couple of paycheck issues came up at the Statehouse this past week.

One got quite a bit of attention, but didn't deserve it. The other got little ink, but deserves more.

Some Republican state representatives made the front page by insisting that a 4-year-old ruling striking down a ban on same-sex marriage in Iowa should now result in a pay cut for the Iowa Supreme Court justices who issued it.

Most Iowans have moved on from the marriage crusade. Last fall, we wised up and stopped kicking justices off the bench. The drive for a constitutional amendment requiring Iowa to set its civil rights clocks back to inequality is all but kaput.

Ever hear those stories about soldiers out on islands who keep on fighting because they don't know the war is over?

No reason. Just asking.

Rep. Tom Shaw, R-Laurens, says a pay cut down to $25,000, which is what most lawmakers make, would maintain the “balance of power” between coequal branches of government. Rep. Dwayne Alons, R-Hull, says the court “trashed the separation of powers.” But they swear it's not punishment. It's just that the court keeps insisting on doing its job, finding constitutional problems with laws the Legislature passes.

Maybe, if justices get paid like lawmakers, they'll appreciate how hard it is to pass constitutional laws. It's nearly as hard as it is for these guys to discuss the role of the courts without spinning nonsense into soundbites.

The good news is, despite the controversy it generated, the pay cut isn't going anywhere.

The bad news is neither is paycheck issue No. 2.

Senate Democrats would like to add $106,560 to a big budget bill that funds a slug of agencies, including the Department of Workforce Development and its Labor Services Division. The added money would pay for two “wage enforcement investigators,” whose job it would be to investigate claims by Iowa workers who say they've been stiffed out of pay they earned.

Backers say Iowa now has just one investigator. And there are 400 wage-theft claims in need of investigating. More staff would help.

Last year, Republicans who run the House refused to add the money. This year, it's the same song. The big bill is in a conference committee, so there's hope, but not much.

The Iowa Policy Project estimated last summer that wage theft in Iowa adds up to $600 million annually. Some people get cheated out of overtime, other don't get to keep their tips. Employees are pushed to work hours off book, or don't get a final paycheck after leaving a job. Folks who work in restaurants, at construction jobs, in meatpacking and food processing are the most vulnerable to paycheck problems.

But many of us have had stuff like this happen during our work lives, and wished we could do something about it.

I know that the policy project leans left politically, as do the lawmakers seeking this funding. I know Republicans don't like to grow government. And I know that they don't like rules and regulations slapped on businesses.

But wage and hour regulations are already on the books. for good reasons. And making sure that Iowans get the pay they're owed does not seem like excessive meddling in the free market. Actually, investigating these claims is exactly the refereeing role government should play. We're not talking about entitlements. We're talking about earnings.

But, remarkably, not many lawmakers are talking about it at all. Sometimes, the $25,000 paycheck they get seems high.