MINUTES
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON STATE EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
AND BENEFITS
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
10:00 a.m.
Capitol Extension, Room E1.028
*****
Pursuant to a notice posted in accordance with Senate
Rule 11.18, a public hearing of the Senate Special
Committee on State Employee Compensation and Benefits
was held on Tuesday, July 23, 2002, in the Capitol
Extension, Room E1.028, at Austin, Texas.
*****
MEMBERS PRESENT: MEMBERS ABSENT:
Senator Jeff Wentworth Senator Jon Lindsay
Senator Gonzalo Barrientos Senator John Whitmire
Senator Todd Staples
Mr. Gary Anderson
Mr. Roger Williams
*****
The chair called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
There being a quorum present, the following business
was transacted:
The following member arrived after the roll was called:
Senator Gonzalo Barrientos
Senator Staples moved to adopt the committee rules.
The motion passed unanimously, and the rules were
adopted.
The chair provided opening remarks and introduced
committee staff. The chair then recognized the other
members of the committee to offer opening comments, and
they did so.
The chair called the first witness, Michelle Smith,
Legislative Director, Texas State Employees Union. Ms.
Smith stated that their biggest concern, in times like
these, is that state employees are going to be asked to
do even more with less. Even though the economy is in
a temporary slowdown it will recover. The problems in
keeping our agencies and universities staffed with
quality employees will not go away or even start to get
better without some changes that only the Legislature
can make happen, according to Ms. Smith. The members
of the committee then questioned the witness.
The chair called Andy Homer, Director of Governmental
Relations, Texas Public Employees Association, who
testified that the state of Texas is facing a serious
problem with its workforce. Several factors play a
part in this problem.
First, the average turnover rate for the last four
years is nearly 18 percent, which is extremely high.
Second, the state is experiencing a rising tide of
retirements, and finally, there is the failure to
retain younger workers who are under the age of 30.
According to Mr. Homer, the turnover rate for this age
group is twice that of the general state employee. Mr.
Homer stated that the association agrees with Senator
Staples' three legged stool analogy, which involves
maintaining the retirement system, addressing the
rising cost of health insurance, and also addressing
the issue of better salaries. Mr. Homer was questioned
by several members of the committee.
The chair called upon Brian Hawthorne, President-Elect,
Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association,
who offered several ideas pertaining to state troopers
in Texas. The association would like the state to
index the salaries of DPS officers to the average of
the best paid police departments and sheriff offices in
Texas, according to Mr. Hawthorne. He also stated that
they would like to see the institution of stipends for
specialized skills and expertise. Another idea offered
by Mr. Hawthorne was to enhance the multiplier for
officers who work past eligibility. Finally, Mr.
Hawthorne stated that the association would like to see
communications officers accrue comp-time for working
holidays that fall on weekends.
The chair called the next witness, Oran McMichael, Area
Field Service Regional Director, American Federation of
State, County, and Municipal Employees, who offered
testimony pertaining to the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, which his group has represented as a
union for the past 10 years. According to Mr.
McMichael, the average turnover rate for correctional
officers is between 22 percent and 27 percent, which is
greater than the national average. Mr. McMichael
stated that this number is high due to the issue of
employee and management relations. Responding to a
question from Mr. Anderson, Mr. McMichael stated that
his group would support an extension of the career
ladder for correctional officers.
The chair called upon Chuck Hempstead, Executive
Director, Texas Association of College Teachers, who
testified that salaries for college faculty members
ranks about five percent lower than the national
average. According to Mr. Hempstead, when ranking the
states in terms of pay, Texas ranks well below the top
ten states. Mr. Hempstead was questioned by several
members of the committee.
The chair called the next witness, Dr. Charles Zucker,
Executive Director, Texas Faculty Association, who
addressed two issues. The first was the "brain drain"
problem which refers to the issue of recruiting and
retaining first-rate faculty members, who were turning
down offers made by public institutions of higher
education to accept higher paying positions elsewhere.
The second issue
addressed by Dr. Zucker was the plight of the part-time
faculty.
We are now a state where in terms of headcount in the
public colleges and universities, part-time faculty
out-number full-time faculty, according to Dr. Zucker.
The Association would like for the committee to look
into providing a minimum per course salary for
part-time faculty, as well as health insurance benefits
for long-term part-timers who teach more than 50
percent of a full-time load at the employment
institution, according to Dr. Zucker.
The committee recessed at 12:06 p.m. for a lunch break.
The chair called the committee back to order at 1:17
p.m. and called upon Mike Higgins, Chief of Staff,
Texas Fire Fighters Association, who testified about
the following issues pertaining to fire fighters:
better salaries, early age retirement, and reduced
working hours.
The chair called upon Kelli Vito, State Classification
Officer, State Auditor's Office and Tony Garrant,
Assistant State Classification Officer, State Auditor's
Office, who offered testimony about the state
compensation system. Mrs. Vito offered the following
five options for salary increases: 1. Across the
board salary increases, 2. Cost of living increase, 3.
Target specific positions that fall behind the market,
4. Offer merit increases, and 5. Offer time in
position pay.
Mr. Garrant testified that the state needs a branding
campaign which would focus on attraction and retention
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON STATE EMPLOYEE
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Minutes
Tuesday, July 23, 2002
page 4
of employees. He also addressed the issue of why
employees are leaving state government.
According to Mr. Garrant, the Auditor's office
developed an online exit survey for employees, and have
discovered the following three reasons people are
leaving: 1. Retirement, 2. Pay, and 3. Relationship
with supervisor.
The chair called upon Sheila Beckett, Executive
Director, Employees Retirement System of Texas, who
provided an overview of state employee benefits. Ms.
Beckett offered a discussion about the following
employee benefits: retirement, insurance coverage,
deferred compensation (Texa$aver), and TexFlex
benefits.
Public testimony took place and committee members
questioned the witnesses.
A discussion was held about future meetings. There
being no further business, at 3:32 p.m. Senator
Wentworth announced that the committee would stand in
recess subject to the call of the chair. Without
objection, the committee recessed.
_________________________
Senator Jeff Wentworth, Chair
_________________________
Robert Haley, Clerk