CAVALA: Legislature Victim Of Yet Another ‘Cheap Shot’? - California Progress Report:
"The Sacramento BEE is leading yet another crusade against the State Legislature. This attack focuses on the benefits provided Legislative employees. While factually accurate, the BEE story is biased and unfair.
After listing the benefits – which contrast favorably on paper with those enjoyed by other state employees and many private sector employees (like BEE reporters), and then allowing reliable witnesses like Jonathan Coupal of the Howard Jarvis organization to take his usual shot at any government action, it isn’t until paragraph 16 (after the fold) that we find the following:"
“Unlike other state workers legislative aides lack civil service protections, receive no automatic pay increases can be fired without cause, receive no overtime compensation and must try to get hired by another legislator when theirs leaves office”.
Which, because of term limits, is a five year occurrence.
Let’s look at the lavish benefits exposed in this hard-hitting report.
Vacations? “Vacations ranging up to six weeks for long time employees”. But with a 35% staff turnover “every year” – a fact listed in paragraph 17 – how many “long time employees” are around to enjoy their six weeks? I was such an employee. In my 25 years of service I enjoyed a net 20 days of “vacation”. My vacation “time” was used up in unpaid volunteer service in political work in an effort to keep my employer in a job where he could employ me.
Retirement benefits? The same as other state employees and not as good as those enjoyed by the staff of Legislative “sergeants” – who are “peace officers”. But who are the Legislative employees who serve long enough or are old enough to retire in grade? Typically they are the clerical workers of the Legislature, not the highly paid attaches of my grade.
"The Sacramento BEE is leading yet another crusade against the State Legislature. This attack focuses on the benefits provided Legislative employees. While factually accurate, the BEE story is biased and unfair.
After listing the benefits – which contrast favorably on paper with those enjoyed by other state employees and many private sector employees (like BEE reporters), and then allowing reliable witnesses like Jonathan Coupal of the Howard Jarvis organization to take his usual shot at any government action, it isn’t until paragraph 16 (after the fold) that we find the following:"
“Unlike other state workers legislative aides lack civil service protections, receive no automatic pay increases can be fired without cause, receive no overtime compensation and must try to get hired by another legislator when theirs leaves office”.
Which, because of term limits, is a five year occurrence.
Let’s look at the lavish benefits exposed in this hard-hitting report.
Vacations? “Vacations ranging up to six weeks for long time employees”. But with a 35% staff turnover “every year” – a fact listed in paragraph 17 – how many “long time employees” are around to enjoy their six weeks? I was such an employee. In my 25 years of service I enjoyed a net 20 days of “vacation”. My vacation “time” was used up in unpaid volunteer service in political work in an effort to keep my employer in a job where he could employ me.
Retirement benefits? The same as other state employees and not as good as those enjoyed by the staff of Legislative “sergeants” – who are “peace officers”. But who are the Legislative employees who serve long enough or are old enough to retire in grade? Typically they are the clerical workers of the Legislature, not the highly paid attaches of my grade.