| 05/03/2007 |
| Are Democrats afraid to be counted? House Republicans want vote on raises |
| By Keith M. Phaneuf , Journal Inquirer |
|
HARTFORD - Administrators in
Connecticut's vocational-technical schools will get a $26,000 raise
over the next four years. Rep. Craig A.
Miner, R-Litchfield, forced a procedural vote Wednesday to protest a
House rule that allows arbitration awards to take effect without
lawmakers having to cast a ballot.Who at the Capitol voted for that increase? No one - and, according to minority Republicans in the House of Representatives, that's the problem.
The average salary for administrators is $96,549 and will rise to $121,443 by the 2010-11 fiscal year. "Not only do I think most voters would be concerned about the fact that we don't vote, I think they would be mortified to learn that at almost every turn we are prohibited from doing so" by Democratic leadership, Miner said. At issue is a House rule regarding contracts for state employee unions that have gone through arbitration - the most common route for resolving labor negotiations in state government. Unlike municipal governments, state government is not bound by an arbitrator's ruling. If lawmakers believe raises, benefits, or other conditions set by the arbitrator are too expensive, they can reject the decision and send the matter back to arbitration. But a House rule - and a similar one in the Senate - gives lawmakers the option of effectively acting without casting a ballot. If an arbitration award is not rejected within 30 days of approval, it automatically is ratified. Miner said this is done so that Democrats, who hold two-thirds majorities in the House and the Senate, can appease labor unions with healthy increases in pay and benefits without leaving behind a voting record that could be used against them in the November elections. Further complicating matters, Miner said, is that many arbitration awards don't even make it onto the House calendar until after the 30-day limit has expired. That's because the legislative panel with jurisdiction over them, the Appropriations Committee, is slow to move them forward. "There is a carefully orchestrated process, with the transmittal handled in a very tight window" so the deadline usually expires before the contract reaches the House floor, he said. The vo-tech agreement, though, still had a few days left before its deadline when it arrived Wednesday on the House calendar. Normally a measure must be on the calendar two days before it can be acted upon. Miner moved to waive House rules to take the matter up the matter after one day. His motion was rejected in a 103-44 vote along party lines. House Republicans have argued for several years now that lawmakers should be required to vote on all arbitration awards. House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford, said afterward that "the Democratic Party never ducks anything," adding that while the full House and Senate don't vote, the Appropriations Committee does. "We have a very open process." Votes taken in committee, though, involve fewer than 50 legislators. "It is the established procedure," added Rep. Denise W. Merrill, D-Mansfield, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. |
