Legislature passes raise plan, highest-paid employees get nothing

State legislators approved smaller pay raises, effective April 1, for UA employees Thursday, but expect that Gov. Jane Dee Hull will use a line-item veto to reduce the raises again or eliminate them altogether.

The bill now on the governor's desk reduces the 5 percent raise that all University of Arizona employees were scheduled to receive April 1.

Negotiations between the House and Senate for smaller raises broke down Thursday and the House sent the governor the Senate version of the state budget.

House Republicans said the Senate's budget does not trim enough spending in the face of a statewide budget crunch and have left it up to Hull to make additional cuts.

"Now I find myself the last person with the chance to hold the line on spending," Hull said in a press release.

As long as the Legislature remains in session, Hull has until Thursday to determine whether the new smaller raises will remain untouched, be decreased again or be eliminated.

The governor has not made any decisions yet, said Francie Noyes, Hull's press secretary.

The rumor at the capitol is that the governor will line-item veto all except the smallest $1,500 raises for the lowest-paid employees, or eliminate the raises altogether, said Greg Fahey, UA associate vice president for government relations.

Under the Senate plan, the raises would be distributed on a sliding scale, with the highest-paid University of Arizona employees left empty-handed.

Employees making less than $30,000 yearly would see a $1,500 raise.

Those making $30,000-$55,000 would get a 5 percent increase.

Employees in the $55,000 to $56,250 bracket would get 4.5 percent and those earning $56,251 to $57,500 would get 4 percent.

Employees making $57,501 to $80,000 yearly would get 3.5 percent.

Those earning from $80,001 to $82,799 would be paid $82,800 yearly.

Employees who earn more than $82,800 would not receive raises.

Democratic lawmakers are questioning the governor's power to cut the raises using a line-item veto. That power is reserved for appropriations and since this is actually a cut in funding, lawmakers have argued it is not an appropriation.

Two other provisions within the bill on Hull's desk are cause for concern among UA administrators.

The provisions call for another budget cut of one-quarter of 1 percent, and a reduction of state funding by half for any UA position that becomes vacant between this April and next July.

More than 10 percent of the UA's state-appropriated funds - which total more than $347 million - could be sent back to the state Legislature under the plan.

Arizona Board of Regents spokesman Matt Ortega said he was disappointed with the Legislature's decision and is hoping the governor vetoes the budget bill as a whole.

"I know that the governor is not very happy with what was sent to her, and we may be back at the drawing board next week," he said.

But while Ortega and UA employees hope for bigger raises, the governor would likely veto the bill for not cutting state spending enough.

On a related note, a bill that would give the UA $5 million over the next 10 years for bioscience research passed the Senate Wednesday.

The bill uses funds from the state tobacco settlement for research on the human genes.

Hull has said she supports funding additional bioscience research.