By Caitlyn Freeman
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
State employees could receive a $1,000 bonus next month under a $74 million supplemental budget submitted to the General Assembly by Gov. Larry Hogan yesterday, but union officials say the money is not enough to compensate public servants who have faced serious challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hogan said he was able to allocate the money for the bonuses due to budget actions he took early last year in response to the pandemic.
“This supplemental budget recognizes the hard work of our state employees, who have overcome significant challenges to deliver essential services to Marylanders during this public health emergency,” Hogan said in a statement.
The union that represents state and higher education employees criticized the governor’s proposal, saying a one-time bonus does little to help the tens of thousands of frontline employees who have worked under dangerous conditions over the past year.
Officials at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees also pointed out that Hogan attempted – and failed – to implement significant budget cuts last July that would have led to a 5% pay reduction for state workers, reduced healthcare benefits and furloughs.
Stuart Katzenberg, the director of collective bargaining and growth strategies for the union, said in an interview today that when Hogan, a Republican, tried to cut funds in July, the union was able to stop it by applying pressure and working with state Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat who plans to run for governor in 2022.
“Up until the last days of December, negotiators for the governor were still proposing furloughs and pay cuts to our members,” said Patrick Moran, the president of Council 3 of the AFSCME. “We rejected these offers because our members deserve more for the dangerous but necessary work they do every day. This announcement doesn’t change the governor’s actions over the past seven years, and especially in the last year of the pandemic, to cut state services to the bone and sacrifice our member’s safety to do so.”
Union officials also noted that the governor’s actions this week show that the state’s financial condition is more stable than what Hogan led taxpayers to believe when he was trying to cut government services last year.
If the supplemental 2022 budget is approved by the legislature, the payment for most employees would take effect on April 14, while employees in the University System of Maryland would receive payment on April 21.
Katzenberg said that rather than a one-time payment of $1,000, Hogan should permanently increase state employee salaries by $1,000.
He said the members deserve the raise to “…reward them for their hard work that they’ve been doing throughout the pandemic and, frankly, before.”
He said that a $1,000 salary increase rather than a one-time bonus would assist members in their retirement and pension funds over time.
According to Katzenberg, AFSCME members are 1% behind all other state employees because Hogan “…refused to pay (them) 1% a year or two ago to punish us for speaking out against him.”