Branstad does not plan salary bill

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he does not plan to propose a state salary bill again this year to fund increased compensation for state employees, saying agencies and departments would be expected to absorb costs within their budget allotments and use attrition or other means to balance their ledgers.

The practice has been criticized by Republican auditors, including State Auditor Mary Mosiman who last June expressed concern in analyzing the current state budget that for a sixth consecutive year state agencies are being required to absorb the increased costs of employee salaries and benefits - a practice that she warned could impact services in some budget areas.

During his weekly news conference, Branstad told reporters he did not include a line item in the $7.3 billion fiscal 2016 budget he submitted to lawmakers in January and indicated he did not plan to propose a separate salary bill as the split-control Legislature starts piecing together a spending plan for the next fiscal year.

'I don't think we have the money to provide for that, so it's going to come out of the agency budgets,” the six-term GOP governor said. Branstad said he expected increased compensation costs could be covered via attrition as state workers retire or positions become vacant, noting state employment has been reduced over the past four years as his administration strives to achieve a 'lean, efficient and a very prudent operation.”

One of the three state employees unions has ratified a new two-year contract that was voluntarily hammered out with state negotiators that calls for pay increases through June 30, 2017, while two others have gone to binding arbitration to resolve impasses over wage and benefit issues by March 15.

The roughly 600-member State Police Officers Council has ratified a new two-year agreement that calls for pay raises of 2.85 percent on July 1, another 2 percent increase on July 1, 2016, and a 1.25 percent raise on Jan. 1, 2017. SPOC members previously had agreed to contribute 20% of their monthly health insurance premiums with a wellness incentive, which carried through to the new contract.

Matt Hinch, Branstad's chief of staff, told reporters the governor's office included a funding request that would authorize an extra full-time position and 'built in some modest increases for staff salaries” after four years of status quo spending. Branstad added that funding for his office remains below levels of the previous administration.

'We expect our people to work hard and I think if you compare what we've done with other agencies or for that matter other branches of government - the courts or the Legislature - and compare where we are versus where we were and where we'll be under this proposed budget, I think you'll still see that we've got a very lean, conservative, prudent budget,” the governor said.

Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the governor should recommend a salary bill and he called it 'unbelievably arrogant” that the governor was planning pay raises within his expanded office while directing other agencies to squeeze operations to cover compensation obligations.

'It's a problem,” said Dvorksy. 'I don't know if we're going to have layoffs or not.”

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