Lawmakers back down on lifting veto on salary caps

The Senate and House of Representatives yesterday withdrew attempts to override the governor’s veto of a bill on government salary caps.

Both houses of the Legislature, in separate sessions, considered whether to pass the measure, which would remove the salary ceiling for medical professionals. But the lawmakers suspended action on the bill after it was pointed out that an add-on provision could result in salary cuts for some professionals at the Legislature and the Judiciary, instead of allowing for pay increases.

Under the bill, medical professionals, attorneys, accountants, engineers, and architects working in government would be exempted from the salary cap of $50,000 a year. In addition, the bill would allow unspecified professionals working at the Legislature and the Judiciary to receive up to $60,000 a year.

Gov. Benigno R. Fitial vetoed the bill, saying its language was “too broad and too vague.” He urged the Legislature to develop a more targeted definition of “professionals” under the Legislative and Judicial branches, “in view of our scarce and limited ability to provide higher employee compensation.”

The override attempts were to be the Legislature’s response to the governor’s state of emergency declaration for the in-house pharmacy at the Commonwealth Health Center. The pharmacy is on the brink of closure due to the lack of pharmacists on duty. The government has been unable to attract licensed pharmacists to work at CHC because it cannot offer a salary over the $50,000 cap, which is too low compared with the market value for licensed pharmacists. The bill would have addressed this problem.

However, several employees, particularly attorneys, at the Legislature and the Judiciary lobbied the lawmakers to uphold the governor’s veto for a separate reason. They are now making over $60,000 a year, and by capping the salary at that level, the bill would force a pay cut against them.

Rep. Heinz Hofschneider offered a different interpretation of the bill. He said the $60,000 cap does not apply to attorneys, as they are already covered by the exemption. The $60,000 cap only applies for other professionals at the Legislature and the Judiciary who are not specifically mentioned in the exemption list, he argued.

Yet, the lawmakers agreed to take no action on the veto, and to introduce a new bill.