Lawmakers reject Sandoval pay cut plan in favor of Oceguera proposal

CARSON CITY -- Legislative Democrats' first attempt to compromise on a state employee pay measure was rebuffed Tuesday by Republicans.

All Democrats on a joint Senate-Assembly budget committee voted to cut salaries by 2.5 percent, instead of the 5 percent proposed in Gov. Brian Sandoval's budget, and all Republicans on the committees opposed the plan.

The Democrats also voted to require employees to take six unpaid furlough days a year, a step that would cut their pay by another 2.3 percent, bringing the total pay reduction under their proposal to 4.8 percent -- just shy of the governor's 5 percent plan.

Approval of the proposal championed by Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, would cost the state $7 million to $10 million more than Sandoval wants to spend as the state struggles to recover from a recession that has cut into tax revenues.

If Sandoval backs up legislative Republicans as expected, the Democrats' proposal is going nowhere.

But Tuesday's meeting wasn't a total standoff.

The governor's plan to postpone merit and longevity pay increases for state workers and college employees for the next two years received bipartisan support.

Committee members from both parties also agreed with Sandoval's plan to save about $1.5 million a year by paying employees who must work on holidays double pay, rather than 2½ times their normal pay.

Through those cuts, the state would save about $180 million.

The decisions were made during a joint meeting of the Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committees.

While state and college workers would have to take pay cuts under either proposal, the same committees last week voted to reject Sandoval's plan to cut pay of public school teachers and employees by 5 percent and also freed them from losing merit pay increases.

Those actions by Democrats would add $650 million to Sandoval's budget.

The tougher treatment of college and state workers, compared with that of public school employees, was not lost on Jim Richardson, a lobbyist for the University Faculty Alliance.

"I am disappointed that all the employees for whom the state is responsible are treated differently. I do not regret what happened to the teachers" but felt the same accommodation should have been made to the others, Richardson said.

He testified earlier that 39 faculty members at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas already have resigned because of the pay cuts.

After the vote on Oceguera's plan, Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, said he might have supported Democrats "if they had not treated me like a 5-year-old."

Kieckhefer had proposed members adopt Sandoval's 5 percent cut plan, saying state workers would be taking only a 0.4 percent additional pay cut because they already lose 4.6 percent through a current requirement for 12 unpaid furloughs days a year.

"This is reasonable," said Kieckhefer, noting that pay cuts are common in private industry.

But Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, insisted that Sandoval was cutting employee pay by 5 percent.

"We will have a brain drain," she said. "They are already lining up to leave the state now."

Assemblyman Pat Hickey, R-Reno, agreed that Oceguera's plan made sense, but he asked for a vote delay so Republicans could chat with the governor and review the proposal.

"This is not a delay tactic," Hickey said. "We just heard it (Oceguera's plan)."

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, refused to allow any delays in the vote.

He also contended the pay cuts will prompt many state workers to retire now and might affect Public Employment Retirement System funds.

Dana Bilyeu, executive officer of PERS, testified that more than 2,000 state workers, teachers and university employees are eligible to retire with full benefits, generally 75 percent of the pay earned during their top three pay years.

Oceguera said there is no reason for them to continue working because their pay will be reduced if they do.

State workers clearly weren't happy with the potential 4.8 percent pay reduction.

"It is going to have a huge impact on my family," said Kevin Ranft, a correctional officer and a leader of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4041.

"I lost my home to foreclosure," Ranft said. "It is not an acceptable option to have more cuts on top of cuts. A lot of my colleagues are in foreclosure or filing for bankruptcy."

Besides the pay cut, state employees would pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits under Sandoval's budget.

Their wages would have increased by 8.4 percent if they had not also lost longevity pay and merit pay increases.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.