HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

190

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

RELATING TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 2004 EXECUTIVE SALARY COMMISSION.

 

 

WHEREAS, section 26-55, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), establishes a five-member Executive Salary Commission (Commission) to convene every eight years beginning in November 2003, and to recommend an appropriate salary for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and each department head or executive officer, as well as appropriate salary ranges for the deputy department heads; and

WHEREAS, according to section 26-55(d), HRS, the Commission's recommended salaries shall become effective July 1st of the next fiscal year unless the Legislature disapproves the recommended salaries by adopting a Concurrent Resolution that is approved by a simple majority of each house of the Legislature, prior to adjournment sine die of the legislative session in which the recommended salaries are submitted; and

WHEREAS, the Commission convened on November 4, 2003, and held a series of meetings to deliberate on a range of factors in considering salary adjustments for the heads of the Executive Branch; on February 17, 2004, the 2004 Commission submitted to the Legislature, through the Governor, its report and recommendations relating to salaries for the eight-year period commencing on July 1, 2004; and

WHEREAS, the 2004 Commission recommended that:

(1) Effective 2006:

(a) The Governor receive $112,000; and

(b) The Lieutenant Governor and the Administrative Director of the State receive $100,000;

and

(2) Effective July 1, 2004:

(a) The head of the Department of Attorney General receive $105,000, and the deputy head receive $91,350-$96,600;

(b) The heads of the Departments of Health, Transportation, Accounting and General Services, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Taxation, and Budget and Finance receive $100,000, and their deputy heads receive $87,000-$92,000;

(c) The heads of the Departments of Human Services, Labor and Industrial Relations, Land and Natural Resources, and Business, Economic Development, and Tourism receive $95,000, and their deputy heads receive $82,650-$87,400; and

(d) The heads of the Departments of Human Resources Development, Hawaiian Home Lands, Agriculture, and Public Safety receive $90,000, and their deputy heads receive $78,300-$82,800;

and

WHEREAS, the Commission further recommended that a two percent compounded adjustment be provided annually to all of these salaries for their respective time periods; and

WHEREAS, the Commission also recommended that the decision regarding any salary adjustment for the Deputy to the Superintendent of Education be deferred to the Board of Education; and

WHEREAS, while it is appropriate for the Legislature to consider salary adjustments for the heads of the Executive Branch, it must also consider its fiduciary responsibility to the State; and

WHEREAS, as part of this overall responsibility, the Legislature must also contend with pending, unbudgeted salary adjustments for the various collective bargaining units; and

WHEREAS, because the Administration has not indicated how these unbudgeted salary adjustments should be financed, the Legislature may have to further amend the Supplemental Executive Budget to account for these expenditures; and

WHEREAS, since the Commission recommended that the salaries of both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor be delayed to 2006, this will allow the Administration to properly budget for these salary adjustments within the Governor's Executive Budget request for Fiscal Biennium 2005-2007; and

WHEREAS, similarly, if the salary adjustments for the department heads of the Executive Branch were to also be delayed, this would allow the Administration to budget for these salary adjustments within the Governor's Executive Budget request for Fiscal Biennium 2005-2007 for consideration by the Legislature; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature, therefore, does not believe it to be in the overall public interest to allow the recommendations of the 2004 Commission to become effective; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that the recommended salaries submitted by the 2004 Commission as set forth in the "2004 Report of the Executive Salary Commission" are disapproved pursuant to section 26-55(d), HRS; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the Twenty-second Legislature hereby express their deep thanks and appreciation to the members of the 2004 Commission for their hard work on this difficult matter; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that upon adoption of this Concurrent Resolution, the Legislature requests that, pursuant to section 26-55(d), HRS, the Commission reconvene in November 2004, to consider the concerns of the Legislature specified in this Concurrent Resolution and submit a report, including new salary recommendations, to the Twenty-third Legislature of the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the 2004 Executive Salary Commission.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 2004 Executive Salary Commission