‘Pass budget first before mulling wage cuts’

The Legislature has no real basis to cut government wages without first passing a budget, a Rota senator said yesterday.

Sen. Paul A. Manglona said that, while he supports efforts to reduce government spending, the Legislature must prioritize the passage of a fiscally responsible budget before acting on legislation that would reduce government employees’ salaries.

“To pass wage reduction legislation without first considering budgetary needs, and identifying available government resources, would be to disregard our fiduciary responsibility at the expense of our hardworking government employees,” Manglona told Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee chair Felix M. Mendiola and House Ways and Means Committee chair Crispin M. Ogo.

The senator maintained that a budget would give lawmakers a better idea of how to manage resources and whether a wage reduction was necessary.

“It would be a shame to pass this legislation in its current form only to find in the coming months that a 10-percent reduction was either too little, or too much, to affect the necessary changes in government spending,” he said.

Manglona noted that, if sharing a common goal, the Legislature and administration could get a budget enacted within 30 days.

The senator, in a separate letter, asked Senate legal counsel Antonio Cabrera to draft an amendment to the Senate’s wage cut bill mandating that a budget be passed before wage reductions could take effect.

He also called the committee chairmen’s attention to the case of government employees who have yet to receive their retroactive pay as authorized by Public Law 7-31.

The law provided for the payment of within-grade salary increases to civil service employees for every year of satisfactory performance. The salary hikes have not been implemented due to lack of funding.

“It would be hypocritical of our government to reduce these government employees’ wages when they have not yet received compensation entitled to them by law,” Manglona said.

“At the minimum, these individuals should be paid back wages due to them in increments equal to the 10-percent reduction until fully compensated, should this legislation become law,” he added.

Furthermore, Manglona said the Legislature must explore other means to reduce government spending such as a review of government office rentals and redundant or unnecessary full time employees.