Politics

Parnell declines pay raise -- but unless the Legislature intervenes, it may take effect anyway

JUNEAU -- After first welcoming a pay raise, Gov. Sean Parnell quickly got cold feet after billions in state budget deficits became public.

He's now called on the state's pay commission and the Legislature to reject the raises. But former Sen. Rick Halford of Eagle River said it is too late for the State Officers Compensation Commission that he chairs to act.

State legislation created the commission in 2008 with the intent of moving the politically sensitive issue of elected officials setting their own salaries away from politics as much as possible. That's not always worked, and this year's recommendation of a raise from $145,000 to $150,872 for the governor has suddenly become controversial as well.

But the commission can't comply with the governor's request, Halford said. "The legislation requires us to take action and have the recommendation finalized by now, so the recommendation is finalized," Halford said.

Gara, Kawasaki plan to introduce bills

Under state law, if the Legislature does not reject the pay raise recommendation within 60 days of the session's start, it takes effect automatically. But two Democratic legislators, Reps. Les Gara of Anchorage and Scott Kawasaki of Fairbanks, said last week that they'll introduce legislation to do just that.

Parnell's announcement that he was calling on the salary commission and the Legislature to reject the increases came Saturday, a couple of weeks after it was finalized.

It's not the first time that the commission thought that an Alaska governor should be paid more, but then the state's top official found the issue too hot to touch. In its first year of operation the commission recommended a raise to $150,000 for then-Gov. Sarah Palin, but she turned the raise down.

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The way the salary commission works is it first makes a proposed salary recommendation, then holds a public hearing. Lastly, it adopts the final recommendation for submission to the Legislature. Palin's raise rejection came before final adoption.

Single comment against raises

Parnell had called his pay raise recommendation "reasonable" prior to the final recommendation. At the hearing, Halford said there was a single comment in opposition the raise for the governor, from an Alaskan who was upset with Parnell for a budget cut.

Halford said the salary recommendations are not about the person, however. "It's not about Sarah Palin, it's not about Sean Parnell, it's not about anybody else, it's about the position of the governor of the State of Alaska," he said. The commission's recommendation was unanimous. The reasons for Parnell's rejection are not fully clear. The commission's proposed raises were made after Alaska adopted an oil tax cut and with it a deficit budget for the first time in years.

That deficit got worse this fall when the Department of Revenue released its new oil tax revenue estimates for the year.

In his explanation for his change of heart, Parnell cited "budget constraints" and "further reflection." Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who is slated to get a salary increase from $115,000 a year to $119,658 a year, had earlier said he did not want or need the increase, but his raise was approved by the salary commission anyway.

The commission also recommended raises for members of the governor's cabinet, the commissioners who run the state's principal departments, as well as the Attorney General. Parnell said Saturday he continues to support raises for commissioners, saying they haven't had a raise in four years. Actually, the Legislature this year did give commissioners cost-of-living raises.

Gara said his proposed bill would stop all those extra raises. "Until we get our fiscal house in order, we cannot afford an extra $120,000 in total governor, lieutenant governor and commissioner raises," he said.

Gara and Parnell are frequently at odds over oil tax policy, health care policy, spending policy and multiple other policies, but this session they may be aligned on at least one issue: The governor's salary.

Contact Pat Forgey at pat(at)alaskadispatch.com

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