GOP Says Maryland Democrats Raised State Pay Under a Veil
Republican legislators accused the Democratic governor and General Assembly leaders today of undermining attempts to cut state payrolls by giving backdoor pay raises to state employees and adding contract workers.</br></br>In an analysis distributed to lawmakers at a budget briefing, the bipartisan Department of Fiscal Services showed a drop of 2,272 regular state employees from July 1990 to July 1992, while the cost of the total payroll remained virtually unchanged. And while the regular state work force declined, the number of contract employees rose by nearly 1,000.</br></br>Gov. William Donald Schaefer and the legislature, trying to reduce state spending during the recession, have refused to give state workers a "step" or merit pay raise in the last two years.</br></br>But critics said that 6,000 employees received new job classifications last year, an undetermined number of them leading to promotions and higher wages.</br></br>"The implication over the last two years has been that the fat was cut from government, but it looks like government as usual," said Del. C. Ronald Franks (R-Eastern Shore), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.