Ohio Senate gave pay raises to some after state budget cuts

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Staffers for both Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio Senate got pay raises this summer in the aftermath of state budget cuts and the passage of a law limiting public-employee unions, state records show.

Payroll data reviewed by The Associated Press show 19 Senate caucus employees — not quite 20 percent of the staff — got pay hikes since July worth about $160,000 combined. Four employees — the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, finance director, and clerk — saw bumps of more than $8,000 a year each on salaries already around $100,000.

The raises were first reported Tuesday on the liberal political blog Plunderbund.

Republican Senate President Tom Niehaus said he ordered a pay review in December after experienced staff members began leaving during the transition of administrations. He says he was looking to see if he could make pay for experienced employees more competitive so the Senate could retain their expertise.

“Every member of senior staff in our caucus was approached about leaving, and we almost lost several other key staff members,” Niehaus said. “It became obvious when I heard what some of the offers were that they were in part leaving because of money, so I asked our chief of staff, Matt Schuler, to do a review of salaries.”

Niehaus said many among caucus staff of both parties were determined to be uncompetitive with the private sector and certain choice government positions, he said. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a fellow Republican, was paying salaries for some key positions above those of his predecessor, Democrat Ted Strickland — though his office says its overall budget was reduced. The GOP also had taken over other statewide offices where Senate staff were landing top jobs.

Niehaus said the Senate was able to bestow the raises without increasing its budget because the chamber has saved money over the years by working efficiently, sharing resources, and being frugal on equipment and other amenities. It waited until the budget passed to make sure that was the case, he said.

In an Aug. 4 email to Schuler, the Senate Democrats’ chief of staff, Amanda Hoyt, requested raises for nine top aides. The AP obtained the email through a records request.

Hoyt listed a dozen office staffers whom she thought deserved raises.

In a statement Wednesday, Hoyt said Democrats sought pay increases to maintain “some semblance of parity” with Senate Republicans, who have held the chamber’s majority since 1985, and make more. She also noted that pay levels in Ohio’s Legislature rank near the bottom among similarly sized states.

Republican House Speaker William Batchelder has not given raises to any staff members this year, said spokesman Mike Dittoe.

As the Senate pay review was under way, the chamber was considering two pertinent bills: a $50 billion-plus state budget with a looming multi- billion-dollar deficit; and a collective-bargaining overhaul that limited the ability of public workers to negotiate for wages, working conditions and pension benefits.

During debate over the collective-bargaining overhaul, Niehaus announced the Senate would concede a key point and allow unions to still negotiate for wages. Sick days, working conditions, and pensions would still be off the table.

“It’s quite hypocritical that the Ohio Senate started looking at pay raises, they were proposing legislation that wouldn’t allow public workers to even negotiate pay,” said Brian Rothenberg, executive director of ProgressOhio, a liberal policy group.

Niehaus said he sees nothing hypocritical about the raises.

“I would say it’s consistent,” he said. “What Senate Bill 5 does is ask that people be paid based on performance. These were clearly performance-based pay increases.”