Sometimes the best solution to a major issue is the one that's least popular.
Now that the state is facing the cold, hard truth about budget
cuts, Idaho
lawmakers should consider the politically unpopular idea of temporary
pay
cuts to balance the state's books.
Although no one relishes the idea of a pay cut, reductions
of 1 percent to 5
percent may be the easiest and fairest way to fix state shortfalls.
Trimming
salaries could easily cover the $55 million in budget holdbacks
that Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne has ordered.
Cuts should vary, depending on salary levels. High-paid agency
administrators and college deans could absorb 5 percent cuts without
much
pain. State salaries below, say, $50,000 might see much smaller
cuts - 2
percent or less. Workers with the lowest salaries could be exempt.
This kind of step is common in the private sector. Companies
that can't meet
their revenue expectations sometimes reduce salaries, especially
among top
managers. By doing this, the company can avoid cutting positions,
programs
and services.
Ask any private sector employee which alternative is better:
a temporarily
reduced salary, or a possible layoff. The answer would probably
be
unanimous.
That's the choice our state government faces this year.
This idea may not sit well with public employees, and especially
with public
school and higher education officials, whose institutions consume
the biggest
portions of Idaho's budget. Indeed, we've yet to see the idea
proposed in
bureaucratic circles.
But these are the same groups demanding that important school
programs be
maintained despite the economic downturn. The best way to do that
may be
with modest pay cuts.
Some state officials have already caught the spirit of sacrifice.
Both
Kempthorne and state Schools Superintendent Marilyn Howard are
refusing
this year's pay raise. That's commendable, as is Howard's decision
to cut $95
million from her initial $1 billion budget request.
Imagine if other state and education officials made the same
temporary
sacrifice. The budget crunch at the College of Southern Idaho
could be
resolved quickly, for one.
A pay cut wouldn't last forever. Salaries could be restored
once the economy
rebounds, which could occur before next year's session.
Salary reductions may not be on the table yet, but they should
be.
Lawmakers should give the idea a serious look.
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