Kentucky House Takes Budget Axe To Salary Of Larry Hayes, Economic Development Secretary, Promises Same For KCTCS President, Michael McCall. Yippeeee!
House slashes salary of economic development boss
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The $250,000 annual salary of state Economic Development Secretary Larry Hayes would be cut nearly in half by an obscure provision in the House budget bill.
Three lines on page 33 of the 367-page House Bill 290, passed by the House Wednesday, requires that “the Secretary for the Cabinet for Economic Development shall not be paid a salary greater than the salary of the Governor.”
Gov. Steve Beshear makes $127,885.
The mandate is one of many significant provisions in the House's $17.5 billion spending plan for 2010-12 that received little or no debate when it was unveiled in the House budget committee Tuesday and passed by the full House Wednesday.
The bill is now before the Senate, which is sure to make many significant changes of its own.
Asked Thursday why HB 290 would cut Hayes' salary, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said, “I think a lot of the members feel like many of those salaries are exorbitant.”
He noted that he recently challenged the approximately $600,000 salary package for Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College system.
Stumbo said the budget knife could be put to the salaries of McCall and other highly paid officials before the General Assembly completes work on the budget in the next month.
Regarding Hayes' salary, Stumbo said, “I can promise you can get comparable talent for a whole lot less. Nothing against Larry Hayes, I'm just telling you that's too much money.”
Hayes declined to comment and referred reporters to a statement by Gov. Steve Beshear. It noted that Hayes' salary is different than that of other cabinet secretaries — who by law cannot make more than the governor — because it is set by the state Economic Development Partnership Board.
Beshear said Hayes' salary is comparable to those of his predecessors and actually is less than his immediate predecessor.
The budget provision, Beshear said, “is of concern to the extent that it diminishes the authority of the Economic Development Partnership Board, and would inhibit recruiting in the future.”
The governor noted that Hayes is among senior officials, including Beshear, who have taken a 10 percent pay cut to help the state cope with the revenue shortages through the economic recession.
Also in the budget bill is a provision beginning on page 238 that was not mentioned during this week's budget debates but is crucial to the House's ability to show an ending balance for its two-year budget.
The provision says “the state payroll that would normally be scheduled to be paid on June 30, 2012, shall not be issued prior to July 1, 2012.”
This would delay for one day one paycheck for state employees but would save a $72 million payroll expense for the state in the 2010-12 budget by requiring the money come from the 2012-14 budget.
Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, chairman of the House budget committee, said, “This pushes an expense from fiscal '12 to fiscal '13.”
Asked if this would make balancing the next budget that much more difficult, Rand said, “It will if we don't have revenue growth, which by '13 and '14 we will.”
Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, said he did not believe the one-day delay in paychecks would cause much difficulty for state workers because they will have more than two years to plan for it.
Also in the budget bill, on page 71, is a finding by the General Assembly that “it is in the best interest of the commonwealth” for the state to continue its contract with Passport Health Plan to operate a managed care program for Medicaid in Louisville and 15 surrounding counties.
A related provision requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to develop a plan for evaluating the Medicaid program and expanding the region currently served by Passport. The budget requires the cabinet to report its results to the legislature by Dec. 1.
And it warns that if the Legislative Research Commission determines the report to be inadequate, it may commission its own evaluation and require the cabinet to pay the cost.
Stumbo has complained in recent weeks that the cabinet has not promptly provided data on the Medicaid program to the House. And he has disputed the conclusion of a letter from Medicaid Commissioner Elizabeth Johnson that Passport costs the state more than it pays per Medicaid recipient in other parts of Kentucky where the state directly administers the Medicaid program.
“The House believes that the whole story on Passport, and/or managed care, hasn't been forthcoming from the cabinet,” Stumbo said. “But we'll get to the bottom — the true facts.”
Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller released a statement late Thursday saying that Passport “has been a longstanding partner of the cabinet ... and we have every expectation that we will continue to partner with them to provide services in the future.”
Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136.
Editor's comment: Just in case anyone is wondering, I'll do their jobs for HALF price.
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — The $250,000 annual salary of state Economic Development Secretary Larry Hayes would be cut nearly in half by an obscure provision in the House budget bill.
Three lines on page 33 of the 367-page House Bill 290, passed by the House Wednesday, requires that “the Secretary for the Cabinet for Economic Development shall not be paid a salary greater than the salary of the Governor.”
Gov. Steve Beshear makes $127,885.
The mandate is one of many significant provisions in the House's $17.5 billion spending plan for 2010-12 that received little or no debate when it was unveiled in the House budget committee Tuesday and passed by the full House Wednesday.
The bill is now before the Senate, which is sure to make many significant changes of its own.
Asked Thursday why HB 290 would cut Hayes' salary, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said, “I think a lot of the members feel like many of those salaries are exorbitant.”
He noted that he recently challenged the approximately $600,000 salary package for Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College system.
Stumbo said the budget knife could be put to the salaries of McCall and other highly paid officials before the General Assembly completes work on the budget in the next month.
Regarding Hayes' salary, Stumbo said, “I can promise you can get comparable talent for a whole lot less. Nothing against Larry Hayes, I'm just telling you that's too much money.”
Hayes declined to comment and referred reporters to a statement by Gov. Steve Beshear. It noted that Hayes' salary is different than that of other cabinet secretaries — who by law cannot make more than the governor — because it is set by the state Economic Development Partnership Board.
Beshear said Hayes' salary is comparable to those of his predecessors and actually is less than his immediate predecessor.
The budget provision, Beshear said, “is of concern to the extent that it diminishes the authority of the Economic Development Partnership Board, and would inhibit recruiting in the future.”
The governor noted that Hayes is among senior officials, including Beshear, who have taken a 10 percent pay cut to help the state cope with the revenue shortages through the economic recession.
Also in the budget bill is a provision beginning on page 238 that was not mentioned during this week's budget debates but is crucial to the House's ability to show an ending balance for its two-year budget.
The provision says “the state payroll that would normally be scheduled to be paid on June 30, 2012, shall not be issued prior to July 1, 2012.”
This would delay for one day one paycheck for state employees but would save a $72 million payroll expense for the state in the 2010-12 budget by requiring the money come from the 2012-14 budget.
Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, chairman of the House budget committee, said, “This pushes an expense from fiscal '12 to fiscal '13.”
Asked if this would make balancing the next budget that much more difficult, Rand said, “It will if we don't have revenue growth, which by '13 and '14 we will.”
Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, said he did not believe the one-day delay in paychecks would cause much difficulty for state workers because they will have more than two years to plan for it.
Also in the budget bill, on page 71, is a finding by the General Assembly that “it is in the best interest of the commonwealth” for the state to continue its contract with Passport Health Plan to operate a managed care program for Medicaid in Louisville and 15 surrounding counties.
A related provision requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to develop a plan for evaluating the Medicaid program and expanding the region currently served by Passport. The budget requires the cabinet to report its results to the legislature by Dec. 1.
And it warns that if the Legislative Research Commission determines the report to be inadequate, it may commission its own evaluation and require the cabinet to pay the cost.
Stumbo has complained in recent weeks that the cabinet has not promptly provided data on the Medicaid program to the House. And he has disputed the conclusion of a letter from Medicaid Commissioner Elizabeth Johnson that Passport costs the state more than it pays per Medicaid recipient in other parts of Kentucky where the state directly administers the Medicaid program.
“The House believes that the whole story on Passport, and/or managed care, hasn't been forthcoming from the cabinet,” Stumbo said. “But we'll get to the bottom — the true facts.”
Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller released a statement late Thursday saying that Passport “has been a longstanding partner of the cabinet ... and we have every expectation that we will continue to partner with them to provide services in the future.”
Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136.
Editor's comment: Just in case anyone is wondering, I'll do their jobs for HALF price.
Labels: Economic news, Education, Keeping them honest, Kentucky politics
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