Thousands of the nation’s lowest-paid state workers could be in line for a $650 raise on July 1 as part of Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ budget proposal.
But, in his second year in office, the Republican governor said the raises wouldn’t go into effect unless lawmakers approved changes to the state’s civil service system, which could make it easier for the governor to hire, fire and reward government workers.
And, as part of the overhaul, he also wants lawmakers to spend an estimated $7 million on consultants to help implement a system to determine who will receive added pay for high performance.
In presenting his budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Greitens said details of the changes had not been finalized. But they could take aim at a system designed to protect employees from being fired for blowing the whistle on wrongdoing or for political reasons.
Under the state’s merit system, most employees are hired based on their performance on standardized tests, rather than their allegiance to a particular politician or political party.
Budget director Dan Haug told lawmakers recently that the state’s civil service system limited the administration’s ability to give raises to workers.
“We want to reward our best employees,” Haug said.
Greitens spokesman Parker Briden said one of the goals was to be able to reward good employees and “let poor performers go.”
DETAILS LACKING
But lawmakers say they don’t know what Greitens is talking about, because he hasn’t offered them any details.
Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, who heads the Senate budget committee, said that he received no answers during a budget briefing with Haug.
“I asked, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ ” Brown said. “Right now they don’t have any language, so they may have put the cart before the horse.”
Just as Greitens has mirrored President Donald Trump in trying to reduce regulations imposed on businesses, the governor’s civil service push could follow the lead of a law signed by Trump in June.
Under the new federal law, the head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs got the power to directly fire employees using a lower threshold of proof. Trump argued it will help get rid of workers who are involved in scandals.
Opponents said the new federal law undermined worker protections.
Briden signaled that the civil service changes might be similar to what happened in Indiana under then-Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2011.
Those changes gave Indiana a performance-based state government model for all workers except those paid with federal dollars.
The idea of similar changes happening in Missouri comes after the Republican-controlled Legislature approved a controversial law last year removing protections for whistleblowers.
Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat, is backing legislation that would restore the safeguards for public sector workers that were stripped under what is known as Senate Bill 43.
Without protections to prevent retaliation or the firing of whistleblowers, fewer will be willing to come forward, for fear of losing their jobs, she said.
Galloway hasn’t seen the governor’s proposed changes, spokeswoman Steph Deidrick said.
“We can’t comment on the proposal before details are available, but Auditor Galloway would have serious concerns with any effort to further intimidate whistleblowers who bring forward concerns of government wrongdoing,” Deidrick said.
LOW PAY, HIGH TURNOVER
The $650 pay increases are included in the governor’s budget plan as a way to make up for the fact that state workers’ wages are the lowest in the nation. The annual raises would apply to workers making less than $50,000 a year.
The low pay has led to high overtime costs and high turnover rates in some agencies. At the Department of Mental Health, for example, the turnover rate in the previous fiscal year was 28 percent. Turnover at the Department of Corrections, which is the largest state agency, was nearly 18 percent.
Sarah Steelman, commissioner of the Office of Administration, which oversees personnel matters in state government, said one incentive could be to give workers bonuses if they don’t call in sick for a certain length of time.
She also told a budget panel last week that the state also needed to offer employees ways to increase their pay when they perform well.
“We don’t necessarily have good career paths,” Steelman said.
Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, raised concern about the cost of paying consultants to help craft a solution, saying it came at a time when Greitens wanted to reduce state spending on higher education.
“I don’t understand how we can do something like this,” Lichtenegger said.
Rep. Allen Andrews, R-Grant City, called the multimillion-dollar cost for one set of consultants “astounding.”
Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, said he had not been briefed on exactly what Greitens wanted to do when it came to changing the hiring and firing process. But in representing the capital city with its 14,000 state employees, Bernskoetter said, he will be watching what emerges.
Bernskoetter said the main problem he saw in state government was the hiring and recruitment of people willing to work at important jobs for lower pay than the private sector.
“We have trouble hiring people. There are so many hoops to jump through,” Bernskoetter said.
He said the civil service tests that prospective workers must take could be modernized and updated to reflect the changes in the workplace.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, who also represents thousands of state employees, is working on legislation that could address the governor’s request.
But rather than making it easier to fire workers, Kehoe said, his goal is to make it easier to reward people.
“I think it’s about rewarding good employees. In today’s environment, if somebody isn’t working well and they are doing the wrong thing, managers have lots of ways to remedy that,” Kehoe said.