Bill would reduce sick, vacation time for state workers

CARSON CITY -- Leaders of the association that represents state employees blasted Gov. Brian Sandoval on Friday for his plans to reduce some employees' vacation time and annual leave and continue a freeze on the receipt of merit and longevity pay raises for all employees.

"These state employees are doing more with less," said Kevin Ranft, a lobbyist for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4041. "Their workload is that of two or three employees (in the past)."

Vishnu Subramaniam, chief of staff of the union, told the Assembly Ways and Means Committee that state employees must do more every day, while the Sandoval administration wants to cut their pay by 5 percent and prevent them from receiving 8.4 percent in pay increases by continuing a freeze on longevity and merit pay.

"We oppose every provision (of Assembly Bill 460)," he said.

Under the bill, longevity and merit pay would be discontinued for two more years, while the number of sick and vacation days employees receive would be reduced by six days a year.

State employees now receive 15 sick days and 15 vacation days a year. The bill would reduce those to 12 sick days and 12 vacation days a year for employees with less than five years of seniority. The changes would not affect schoolteachers but the 16,000 general government state employees.

State employees also receive 11 paid holidays a year. That total would not be affected by the bill.

The move to reduce the benefits came after a state budget office study of what is offered state employees in other states. Legislators were told state employees receive two more sick days per year than any of the state employees in 10 other Western states.

The committee took no action on the bill Friday. There also was no fiscal note prepared for the bill. Such notes show the savings from implementing actions in bills.

Assemblyman Paul Aizley, D-Las Vegas, criticized AB460, saying he sees an "inconsistent pattern" in Sandoval's budget proposals.

Because the study found annual and sick leave were higher in Nevada than in other states, he wants to lower these benefits, Aizley said. Because a study found Nevada tuition was lower than other states, he now wants students who attend Nevada's colleges and universities to pay higher tuition, he added.

But though several studies have found state support for public education is lower than in almost all states, Sandoval wants to lower it even more because, "well, money doesn't solve problems," Aizley said.

But Julia Teska, a state budget office analyst, said it is hard to find "apples to apples" statistics to compare teacher salaries and education funding between Nevada and other states.

She said teachers in Nevada do not pay state income taxes while they do in California. Nevada teachers also do not make personal contributions into the state Public Employees Retirement System, she said. These contributions are made by school districts through collective bargaining agreements. Sandoval is calling for teachers to contribute 5.3 percent of their salaries to PERS.

Assembly Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, said cutting vacation and sick leave would reduce Nevada's ability to attract the best workers.

"We have to look at what is competitive for us," he said. "We can't just be average."

Teska noted that the bill would not reduce vacation and sick days for all employees, only those with less than five years of service. She said additional days would be added for long-serving employees.

State employees working more than 20 years would be given 21 vacation days a year.