All salaries, including
the governor's, would be reduced
for one year

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

The Senate is considering a bill that would cut salaries for all state workers, from Gov. Ben Cayetano on down.

The measure, scheduled for a public hearing tomorrow before the Senate Ways and Means Committee, would be a way to cope with the state's budget crisis, said one of the panel's co-chairwomen, Sen. Carol Fukunaga (D, Makiki).

"We are looking at whatever we might be able to do to help balance the state budget," Fukunaga said.

The bill does not specify the size of the salary cuts. Budget Director Earl Anzai said roughly $150 million would be saved if the pay cut was to be pegged at 10 percent for the state's more than 42,000 workers.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said today he is not in favor of salary cuts.

"I don't think it resolves the problem. We need to make hard choices about programs, what we should expect from government," he said.

"This approach does not come to grips with making hard choices."

Furthermore, there could be legal problems with the bill, Cayetano said, echoing concerns of House Finance Chairman Calvin Say (D, Palolo).

Attorney General Margery Bronster has told him that the Hawaii Constitution "mentions impairment of contracts, so that's something that needs to be looked into further," Cayetano said.

The salary rollback measure calls for superseding all other laws and collective bargaining contracts.

While some lawmakers expect the bill to get a hostile reaction from public-employee unions, the initial response of the state's largest public-workers union was cautious.

"We realize the Legislature has to address the fiscal situation, balance the budget," said Wayne Yamasaki, a deputy director of the Hawaii Government Employees' Association.

"We've got to cooperate to find a solution to balance the budget.

We're not with our heads in the sand. We know everyone has problems in the state, not just government employees but everybody in the state."

Yamasaki said the union hopes to work with lawmakers on the bill and "other alternatives."

Asked if he thought the bill was good or bad, Yamasaki replied, "It is hard to say." But he noted the proposal would cause some inequities for HGEA members because some bargaining units have workers for both the state and the counties, which wouldn't be subject to a salary cut.

HGEA will develop its position on the bill before tomorrow's hearing, he added.

June Motokawa, president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, said through a spokeswoman that she had no immediate comment but plans to make a statement today.

The proposed salary rollback would be for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

Not only would workers paid from the cash-tight general fund be paid less, but also state employees paid with federal and special funds, which are not subject to the state's cash crunch.

Anzai said the bill is "very efficient" in saving money and has a lot more pluses than, say, layoffs -- in which displaced workers could end up on welfare -- or furloughs, which would be hard to implement with teachers.

"I don't think anyone being paid by the state is going be happy with this. But it affects everybody from Uncle Ben on down, including (this) 'brudah' too," Anzai said.

Cayetano earns $94,780 annually; Anzai, $85,302. The state's annual payroll is $1.6 billion.

Anzai added that the Senate proposal is a "stopgap measure" since it would only be in effect for a year.

Manabu Kimura, the state's chief labor negotiator, said since the state began collective bargaining in 1970, salary take-backs have never been imposed.

Three bargaining units covering university professors, public school teachers and firefighters have raises that the Legislature has already appropriated, he said.

The Legislature still needs to fund contracts for six HGEA units that have been ratified or are undergoing the ratification process, Kimura added.

The administration is still negotiating contracts with blue-collar workers and prison guards in the United Public Workers' two bargaining units, Kimura said.

"I hope there is a settlement before the legislative session ends," he said.

House Finance Chairman Say said if the Senate's proposal can withstand legal scrutiny, it could be an excellent way to offset a personal income tax cut without having to raise the general excise tax from 4 percent to 4.75 percent as Cayetano has proposed.

"It may be a vehicle the Senate has as far as re-addressing the collective bargaining agreements of the past. I really don't know," Say said. "But it's a tremendous idea to consider and I hope they have the votes to pass it."

The concurrence of public-worker unions would be needed before an across-the-board pay cut could be made, Say said. He said it could come down to unions deciding if a cut is better than layoffs.

Say added: "When we look at what's happening in the private sector, I think a lot of the public employees should be very happy they have jobs.

"For me right now, with the budget that's coming down there's about 120-plus warm-body positions that will be terminated."