Arkansas Legislative Council – August 4, 2009
Posted on August 4th, 2009
Date & Time: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 10:00 AM
Location: Room 171, State Capitol
Agenda: http://tr.im/vrox
Attachments: none
This committee reviews matters regarding the State Uniform Personnel Classification and Compensation Plan; matters pertaining to the adequacy of position classification and pay schedule of state agencies and institutions; matters which require Legislative Council advice in regard to the administration of the State Personnel Classification and Compensation Plan; matters pertaining to the duties of the General Assembly to establish the maximum number of employees; and the maximum annual salaries of all officials and employees of state government shall be referred to this committee.
10:01 pm – Senator Faris called the meeting to order. We must not be discussing the lottery today because there is not many press people, no TV cameras here.
10:04 pm – Rep Lea asked if this meeting was being audio recorded. Staff confimed that it is being recoreded.
10:06 pm – The committee is currently reviewing an update on the new pay plan implementation. Agencies that are paying shift should have had training about shift differential but had not done so, therefore some pay entries were incorrect. The problems seems to have been addressed and corrected.
10:12 pm – Currently reviewing report on the pay plan and positions created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act is stated as “making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State adn local fiscal stabilization….”
10:15 pm – Apparently the “job creation” is meant to mean “government jobs” that have no promise of being permanent. In fact, these people taking these positions have to sign a document saying that the job will end in 2011 unless funding is continued. We are creating a whole new group of people who have a vested interest in continuing big government.
10:18 pm – Representative Andrea Lea asked if the State of Arkansas would be responsible for paying unemployment when the funding ends. The answer was “Yes”. She asked a follow up question was, “Isn’t the states unemployment fund currently in debt and called Mr. Williams to the stand to ask for how much.” Mr. Williams said the fund is currently “broke” and we are currently $92 million in debt and by the end of the year it would be up to $230 million in debt. I think he is being very conservative the number and think it is probably closer to $260 million.
10:22 am – Terry Smith asked how this money would be paid back, if someone has an answer of how we can pay this back without raising taxes on employer payrolls. Senator Teague made the point that the legislature already raised the tax by $50 million in the last session.
10:26 am – When asked how we are going to pay back the debt, Mr. Williams said, “We are going to pay it back slowly” generating alot of laughter. He really has a great sense of humor. He believes that the debt should be forgiven by the federal government because that money was paid by Arkansas employers.
10:28 am – The discussion has turned to the condition of the state unemployment fund and has moved away from the point that the ARRA hires will make the situation worse.
10:30 am – Rep. Dunn asked how these increases in unemployment costs going to affect our competitiveness with surrounding states. Mr. Williams said that currently we are competitive, but seemed to indicate that it could be a future issue.
10:36 am – If I recall, we voted on a bill to extend unemployment benefits during the last session. I sure hope I didn’t vote for that.
10:39 am – Mr. R.T. Williams has been called to the stand again by Senator Teague. He is asking if there is an effort to create a formal plan for paying back debt and suggested that business leaders should be included in the discussions. Mr. Williams said a plan is in works that includes both labor and management.
10:41 am – Meeting adjourned.
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