Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
04/12/2022 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB215 | |
| SB119 | |
| SB221 | |
| SB194 | |
| SB195 | |
| HB234 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | SB 221 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 215 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 194 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 195 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 234 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
SB 195-PAY INCREASES FOR EXEMPT EMPLOYEES
4:38:01 PM
CHAIR SHOWER announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 195
"An Act relating to the compensation of certain public
officials, officers, and employees not covered by collective
bargaining agreements; and providing for an effective date."
He asked the sponsor to give the committee a high level summary
of the bill.
4:38:40 PM
SENATOR JESSE KIEHL, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SB 195, stated that this is the pay catch-up bill for
state employees who are not in a union. It covers the exempt and
partially exempt employees, which includes most staff at the
Legislative Affairs Agency, all of the Department of Law, the
bailiffs, clerks, and staff attorneys in the Judicial Branch,
and most state corporations. He said it is a matter of fairness
to bring these employees along who already lag union employees
by one cycle.
4:40:06 PM
CHAIR SHOWER relayed that a constituent asked why state
employees shouldn't negotiate their own contracts and bargain
for a better pay scale as opposed to having the legislature do
the collective bargaining through legislation like SB 195.
4:41:34 PM
SENATOR KIEHL said that if each employee were to negotiate
independently for pay and benefits, the state would need to make
a significant investment in human resource specialists to do the
negotiations. SB 195 doesn't propose such a change, but it does
propose to amend the salary schedule that is set in law up to
the level that union employees have achieved in the past.
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked why the Legislative Affairs Agency and
legislative employees have not entered a collective bargaining
agreement.
SENATOR KIEHL said he couldn't answer directly, but he did know
that sometime in the past an adjustment to the pay schedule did
not provide the same step adjustment to employees of the
judicial branch as others had gotten. Those judicial employees
organized and negotiated a contract that included that missing
pay step. That ended at some point, but ever since then those
judicial employees have been included fully whenever the pay
schedule was adjusted.
SENATOR KAWASAKI asked if he believes that adjusting the pay
schedule by law might soften the resolve of the legislative
branch to organize itself.
SENATOR KIEHL said he believes that employees are best suited
under federal labor law and the Public Employee Relations Act to
decide for themselves whether or not to be represented by a
union. He added that anybody who thought it would be a good idea
to organize, would be further motivated by looking at the nearly
three-year lag time on these pay adjustments.
4:45:23 PM
CHAIR SHOWER opened public testimony on SB 195.
4:45:46 PM
BETSY BULL, representing self, Anchorage, Alaska, stated that
she is a prosecutor in Anchorage and she supports SB 195 as just
a starting point, because it does not address the recruitment
and retention problems the Department of Law faces each day. For
example, a colleague was assigned 100 sex cases, a couple of
which were homicides. During that time she received and accepted
an offer from Washington State. That job included a pension, a
20 percent salary increase, an annual 25 percent cost of living
adjustment, a merit increase, equal paid time off, sick leave,
and compensation for all on duty hours that were in addition to
the regularly scheduled work. She received those benefits and a
70 percent reduction in case load. Ms. Bull said the Department
of Law isn't even competing on the same playing field.
MS. BULL relayed that when an attorney leaves DOL employment,
those who remain have to pick up the caseload. It causes some to
wonder why they should continue to work 60/hours/week when
they're paid for just 37.5/hours/week. Their last cost of living
increase was nearly seven years ago.
MS. BULL reported that last year alone she carried more than 100
sex and homicide cases and was on duty 24/7 for 22 weeks. None
of the extra time was compensated. She recounted that it was
common for DOL attorneys to work 80/hours/week during trial and
to give advice on complex cases to detectives and members of
multidisciplinary teams, all of whom have higher base salaries
than their own. She urged the committee to pass SB 195, and to
recognize that it was a small step in the right direction.
4:50:04 PM
CHAIR SHOWER closed public testimony on SB 195.
SENATOR KIEHL thanked the chair and committee for hearing the
bill. He also noted that the bill did not apply to those exempt
employees who are represented by a union.
4:50:43 PM
CHAIR SHOWER held SB 195 for future consideration.