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Paying Troopers More
The Legislature heard from State Troopers yesterday on pay and benefits:
More than two-thirds of Utah Highway Patrol troopers work a second job, and one in five works a third job. About 15 percent qualify for state aid.
Armed with those statistics, troopers pleaded for raises during a legislative committee hearing Thursday. While no decisions were made on whether the troopers will get a pay hike, lawmakers heard a sad tale of the state’s police force.From Salt Lake Tribune - Utah
Referenced Fri Jan 28 2005 07:13:02 GMT-0700
Like everyone else in a session that promises a looser budget than the last several years, Public Safety is after more money. Stories like this give you an idea of the problems that Utah faces. We don’t just have a public education problem, we have funding problems everywhere. The challenge facing the Legislature is that they’re not trying to decide between good and bad or right and wrong. They’re trying to decide between good and good and determine which programs the State needs most.
Are there solutions? Sure, but they require hard changes that the Legislature couldn’t even bring itself to do in hard times. Things like changing the State Merit Employment system would provide more flexible employment practices for the State and allow savings in the only budget category large enough to make any difference: personnel.
Posted by Editor on January 28, 2005 07:13 AM
