By PATRICK JACKSON
The News Journal
05/25/2005
DOVER -- Delaware may start giving two raises each year to people in jobs the state has struggled to fill or has had trouble keeping filled.
That means corrections officers, nurses and transportation and environmental engineers could share in annual state raises given in July at the start of each budget year, and also get a second increase in January after an annual comparative wage review by the state Budget Office.
Such reviews occasionally have been done in the past to see whether state salaries are competitive with other states, and with what workers in comparable private-sector jobs are getting.
But under the plan announced Tuesday by the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, the reviews would be done each summer and fall, with salary adjustments of 1 percent to 5 percent possible in January until the state's hiring and retention problems recede.
The state has had trouble recruiting and retaining corrections officers, resulting in heavy overtime and morale problems in prisons. That was an issue in last fall's elections and both parties pledged to improve corrections officer salaries.
But the problem is not limited to corrections officers. The state has had similar trouble hiring and keeping nurses, as well as engineers needed to plan roads or to set and enforce environmental standards.
Sen. Nancy Cook, D-Kenton, said the new salary review policy represents a big shift in how the state does business.
"It used to be that, once we did a selective market review, that was it for a long, long time -- an employee might never see another one, really," said Cook, a co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee. "This gives us the chance to keep a close eye on the areas where we're having problems hiring and keeping people and make changes."
The state personnel office would review salaries in selected job categories during summer and fall and then consult with the Budget Office, the Controller General's Office and Joint Finance Committee members.
The group then would recommend midyear salary changes that would take effect in January.
Committee members ap-proved the idea and set aside $5.5 million in a special account to pay for it. The move comes as the panel reworks Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's proposed $2.77 billion budget for the year that begins July 1.
"None of this is exciting," said Rep. Joe Di Pinto, R-Wilmington West, the committee's co-chairman. "But it is doable."
The prison crisis provided the impetus leading to the annual comparative surveys.
Currently, about 290 of 1,860 corrections officer positions are unfilled and 42 other jobs are temporarily vacant because corrections officers have been called up for military service.
'Career ladder' requested
The corrections officers' union asked for a new salary scale with steps creating a "career ladder" as officers move through the ranks, an option the committee did not adopt. Corrections Commissioner Stan Taylor said he thinks the new salary review policy is a better deal.
"This is a vehicle that will keep running until we get things in line," said Taylor, who noted that Delaware's starting pay now is better than in Maryland or Pennsylvania, although it still lags behind New Jersey. "It should make it look more attractive to people thinking about coming in and, hopefully, will make people think twice before they leave for something else."
In the past 18 months, the state has increased corrections officer pay and hazardous-duty compensation to bring pay levels up. An entry-level corrections worker on the job on June 30 being paid $28,234 would make $32,376 this July 1 -- an increase of about 14.6 percent.
Union consulted
Taylor and committee members said union officials were consulted in developing the new plan. Corrections Officers Union President Paul Smith said he was encouraged by the plan, but wanted to see details before commenting further.
The finance committee also added about $1.9 million to the Corrections Department budget to pay for improvements recommended by a task force studying last July's hostage incident at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
Taylor said money will be used to pay for radio equipment, upgrading and installing new video cameras, new equipment for the department's SWAT team, and to address other security problems pointed out in two studies investigating the incident.
"That better start correcting those problems," warned Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, a former corrections commissioner. "If they get it and we keep hearing about those problems, there's going to be a serious inquiry into what's going on there."
Work-release center a priority
The committee said it also would insert wording in the budget bill ordering the department to open the women's work-release center in New Castle County by October. The new $4 million, 96-bed facility has been sitting unused since August because of the department's staffing shortages.
"We want to give the commissioner the flexibility he needs to do his job," Cook said. "But we want to get that facility opened."
Contact Patrick Jackson at 678-4274 or pjackson@delawareonline.com.
