Hello Assembly Republicans!
A number of your staff have brought it to my attention that, for the first time in ages, you're reportedly going to discuss cost of living adjustments for Assembly staff during your caucus today.
If you're keeping track at home, the last COLA that Assembly staff received was after the passage of the 2001-03 budget. In fact, it's been so long that many new legislators (staffers too!) have confused the COLA with the optional merit increase that staffers are eligible for on the anniversary date of their hire. Many of you routinely sign off on merit increases for your staff, but those of you who do should know that there are other legislators who don't.
Now, I'm sitting on copies of staff salaries for the last handful of years. You should know that many of your staff have seen these documents, if they don't have copies themselves. There are certainly enough copies in circulation, beyond what WisPolitics releases for public consumption. Before any of you get your panties in a knot, remember that these lists are public documents. No office that has them could reasonably refuse a request from me to turn them over, nor could Pat Fuller. But Pat's a busy man and there's no sense in bothering him.
So there are no secrets, which is something leadership should keep in mind. Everyone has a pretty good idea of what everyone else is making. But I'm guessing many in the Republican caucus probably don't. So as a public service, I'm going to post the salaries of every GOP staffer in second floor west, as of January 2007. I'm not posting names, because that's not relevant. We'll leave that to WisPolitics.
$86,124
$75,516
$69,840
$68,688
$68,556
$67,908
$61,164
$60,000
$46,992
$41,388
$36,432
If you're doing the math at home, that's a median salary of $67,908 and an average salary of $62,055.
I think most staffers who have been around for awhile would tell you overwhelmingly that the professionalism and talents of Scott Jensen's staff far exceeded anything that John Gard or Mike Huebsch has put on the table. I think their results were a lot better too, both in terms of having a cohesive agenda, an aggressive media plan, and a system that brought home additional seats cycle after cycle. The proof is in the pudding. Under Jensen, legislative majorities grew in every election. Since then, there was a negligible gain in 2004 and the Assembly got looted in 2006. And don't blame Iraq, either. 1998 was a terrible year for Republicans nationally because of the impeachment silliness and Jensen still managed to pick up seats.
But as you can also see, that doesn't stop Team Jensen's replacements from raking it in, so to say. Leadership staff aren't starving, by any stretch of the imagination.
Some of you should now ask your staffers what they're making (in case you've forgotten). Take those numbers and compare them to the numbers I listed above. Now think about the fact that in many instances, the work that leadership staff is doing is virtually identical to the work your staff is doing.
Time and again in recent years, the folks in second floor west have turned their pockets inside out and made the sad face when it comes to staff salaries. No money, they said. We can't afford cost of living adjustments. But as you can see by these numbers, your leaders have had no problems handsomely rewarding their own staff. Furthermore, the Senate never once found itself in the same predicament even though it too had to tighten its belt.
But here's the other kicker. Leadership has also, on more than one occasion, exercised its discretion to boost the salaries of certain staffers for reasons that defy the logic of many of their colleagues. The people who have received the golden tickets aren't people who are necessarily recognized by their colleagues as being the most ambitious or the the most productive.
Now, if these increases were based on merit, perhaps the equitable thing to do would be to distribute benchmarks for merit increases so that all staff could work towards receiving them. Short of that, the only logical reason to assume is favoritism.
Some of you might say "well, if staff don't like what they make, they can always leave." If you're one of them, that's a terrible attitude to have towards people whose sole job is to make you look good. Furthermore, if you'd look around, you'd see that you're already getting your wish. See how many people are having their little parties or soirées because they got a lobbying position, or they're taking a job in another city, or they're going back to school. Frankly, there aren't so many opportunities in town for Republicans these days - most lobbying firms and interest groups don't see much use for Republican staffers given the Democratic wind that's blowing. But that isn't stopping your staffers from trying. Lobbying gigs. Private sector work. Agency jobs. You name it, they're on it right now.
And why not? The Assembly Republican leadership reeks of social promotion, where everyone hires their friends. So if you're not one of the cool kids, you're stuck getting 2.6% a year, and that's only if your boss is willing to sign off on the paperwork and you're not redlined. Every day, you go to work and do your best, even though you know there's someone sitting around in a five-person leadership office who's making 20, 30, 40 grand more than you to do work that's no harder than what's on your desk.
And then leadership wonders why so many of its veteran staff don't want to help out on races anymore? Look how badly they've treated them since Jensen left. Some of them would rather go home and mow their lawn. Some of them have to go to their second job at 5 o'clock since you've done nothing to keep their salaries from falling further and further behind the rate of inflation.
I'm not saying that staff should be treated like royalty - but the fact is, you haven't even given them the same cost of living adjustments that you give to represented employees in their contracts. And when you work in the Legislature, there's virtually no opportunity for upward mobility. You guys threw most of that out the window when you abolished the caucuses.
Your staff are talking about this. Leadership staff knows they're talking about it, too. I think they got asked about it at just about every staff meeting they held Monday.
If each of you worked from home one or two more times a month instead of coming to the Capitol, that would offset the cost of the adjustments right there. Remember, your staff show up for work every day, and none of them are getting an $88 tax-free gift just for gracing your office with their presence. They also don't get the luxury of bringing their newborns in and using their co-workers for babysitters, like some of you do. They pay for daycare, like regular people.
I know most of you like and respect your staff. And you should. Most of them work pretty darn hard to make you look good. A couple of them probably play a little solitaire on their computer from time to time, but hey, I used to see you guys on the floor every time you were in. From the parlor, anyone can see that you guys play a lot of solitaire on the job too.
Your respect and appreciation are great, but it's not helping your staff to pay their heating bills this winter. If leadership can bring their staffers silver and gold, they should be able to find a little something for your staff too. So maybe when the topic comes up in caucus, you should stand up for them. Whether they'll admit it to you or not, they need your help on this one.
(Oh, and staff? Feel free to print this and leave it for your boss before s/he heads over to the Madison Club. As your appointing authorities, they probably deserve a more complete picture of this situation than what, based on history, leadership will likely present to them.)
