HR 5: Urging Governor Dunleavy and the Department of Administration to release all copies of the statewide salary study.
00 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 5 01 Urging Governor Dunleavy and the Department of Administration to release all copies 02 of the statewide salary study. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: 04 WHEREAS the state is facing a recruitment and retention crisis for public employees, 05 including firefighters, public safety officers, teachers, road maintenance operators, benefits 06 processers, and other public sector employees; and 07 WHEREAS the average vacancy rate for state jobs is 16 percent, with some divisions 08 facing vacancy rates at double that average; and 09 WHEREAS the last time the state conducted a salary study was in 2009; and 10 WHEREAS, in 2023, the Alaska State Legislature appropriated $1,000,000 to 11 conduct a salary study with an expected completion date of July 2024; and 12 WHEREAS the purpose of the salary study was to gather data on salary and 13 compensation practices across various industries, compare external market data with salary 14 and pay structures in the classification and pay plan of state jobs, and provide a report of 15 findings to inform decision making regarding wages and compensation; and 16 WHEREAS, in December 2023, the state signed a contract with The Segal Company
01 (Western States), Inc., for $775,000 to conduct the salary study; and 02 WHEREAS, in testimony before the House State Affairs Committee on January 30, 03 2025, officials of the Department of Administration reported that a draft salary study was 04 completed before the original deadline; and 05 WHEREAS, since the original deadline of the salary study, the Department of 06 Administration has issued four contract amendments, bringing the total cost of the salary 07 study up to $950,000; the second of those contract amendments was issued on August 26, 08 2024, authorizing an additional $80,000 for approximately 100 hours of work by The Segal 09 Company (Western States), Inc., that has not, to date, yielded a result, despite the passage of 10 an additional six months; and 11 WHEREAS, in the House State Affairs Committee meeting on January 30, 2025, the 12 officials of the Department of Administration said that the new expected release date for the 13 statewide salary study is March 31, 2025; and 14 WHEREAS, in the fourth amendment to the original contract dated December 16, 15 2024, the contract between the Department of Administration and The Segal Company 16 (Western States), Inc., was extended to June 30, 2025, at an additional cost of $70,000, and it 17 remains unclear, with this amendment, whether the department will adhere to the expected 18 March 31, 2025, release date; and 19 WHEREAS AS 23.40.215 requires that monetary terms for collective bargaining 20 agreements be submitted to the Alaska State Legislature by the 60th day of the legislative 21 session, which is March 21, 2025; and 22 WHEREAS the salary study is a vital tool for decision making between the state and 23 collective bargaining units to ensure that working Alaskans receive fair and competitive 24 wages, and, without the salary study available during the collective bargaining process, it is 25 likely that public sector employee salaries will continue to stagnate and further hinder 26 recruitment and retention in the state; 27 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges Governor Dunleavy and 28 the Department of Administration to release all copies of the salary study, including all drafts 29 produced and provided to the administration before the date of passage of this resolution. 30 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Mike Dunleavy, Governor 31 of Alaska; the Honorable Nancy Dahlstrom, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska; the Honorable
01 Paula Vrana, Commissioner, Department of Administration; and Mr. Richard Ward, Senior 02 Vice President, The Segal Company (Western States), Inc.