Lawmakers freeze bonuses and salary increases

THE state Senate Tuesday passed House Bill 2998, which extends a salary freeze begun early this year and suspends cash performance awards for state employees and their supervisors.

On one level, the Legislature has acted on a sentiment that taxpayers heartily endorse. In tough economic times, state workers ought to be happy they have a job and health insurance. As lawmakers struggle with a $2.6 billion budget deficit, even a steady paycheck is in doubt. That anxiety permeates the economy.

The author of the legislation, Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, brings a shaper pencil and focus to the measure. He is concerned about what he describes as "the senior management architecture" of state government. He has watched the upper levels of state government — Washington Management Services — become bloated in "super grade" positions and salary expectations, including bonuses.

Seaquist's bill suspends monetary awards and freezes salary increases until 2011. Two categories of important recognition are left open: non-monetary awards and compensation for money-saving ideas.

Seaquist and other legislators are trying to squeeze every penny, and their attention was drawn to a state Department of Personnel report, Performance-Base Incentives and Recognition, which covered July 2008 to June 2009. Credit political reporter Austin Jenkins of Northwest News Network with helping get the word out.

During that period, the state made 9,323 awards totaling $1,900,540. The awards represent a mix of one-time bonuses and a lot of service awards — plaques and certificates with a cash value of $200 or less.

Attorney General Rob McKenna granted 901 cash awards for a total of $599,000. The state Department of Transportation gave out awards that run for pages and pages.

The Legislature is starting to ask pointed questions about the growth of bureaucracy during good times, and what is actually needed and can be sustained in hard times.