Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1180
By Senator Soto
14-01294-13 20131180__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to state employee salaries; providing
3 a short title; providing a competitive pay adjustment
4 for state employees; requiring an appropriation;
5 providing an effective date.
6
7 WHEREAS, the delivery of exceptional public service is
8 imperative in this state, which competitively seeks business
9 opportunities internationally and nationally, which encourages
10 tourism, and which invites businesses and their employees to
11 relocate here to live, work, and play, and
12 WHEREAS, state employees are uniquely responsible for
13 providing services that ensure that Florida is and remains
14 desirable and competitive for tourists and that ensure
15 businesses believe and know that their employees are safe on our
16 roads, beaches, and lakes; and that the water they may drink,
17 the air they breathe, the food they eat, and the schools they
18 may send their children to or attend are at least safe and high
19 quality and encourages them to live, work, and play here, and
20 WHEREAS, if we are to operate the State of Florida more
21 like a business, that must mean that the state operates
22 efficiently, effectively, and competitively, and our state
23 employees are fundamental to that excellence, and
24 WHEREAS, it is good business to treat employees ethically,
25 morally, and with attention to morale, and
26 WHEREAS, the State of Florida seeks to provide the high
27 quality-of-life services that are consistent with the services
28 that developed nations offer for their citizens and that lift
29 and empower all citizens regardless of income, in contrast to
30 undeveloped nations that are marked by a poor quality of life
31 and a lack of basic public services, and
32 WHEREAS, state employees provide services to all Floridians
33 that, for moral and ethical reasons, are human rights guaranteed
34 to all without discrimination and that include ensuring justice
35 in our courts, protection on our roads and byways, and
36 reasonable assurance of safety from crime and mayhem, and
37 WHEREAS, state employees, as public servants, work to
38 provide services essential to modern life, such as law
39 enforcement, child protection, ensuring water and air quality,
40 food safety, transportation infrastructure, protection against
41 the spread of contagious disease and other public health issues,
42 and the protection of natural resources for the enjoyment of all
43 for generations, and
44 WHEREAS, state employees provide services to the public,
45 services arrived at through social consensus and the social
46 contract expressed through our democratic process that certain
47 services should be available to all, regardless of income, and
48 WHEREAS, Florida has the most efficient state workforce in
49 the nation and is a very complex state that is home to diverse
50 cultures and languages, and
51 WHEREAS, in 2011, state governments nationwide reported an
52 average of 213 state government employees per 10,000 residents,
53 while Florida reported only 112 state government employees per
54 10,000 residents, the lowest ratio in the nation, which is 47.4
55 percent less than the national average, and
56 WHEREAS, that same year, the state government national
57 average was $74 in employee payroll expenditures per state
58 resident, while Florida’s employee payroll expenditure was $37
59 per state resident, the lowest labor cost for state public
60 services per resident in the nation, a ratio that is 50 percent
61 less than the national average, and
62 WHEREAS, state jobs that provide for the public good often
63 require rigorous education and training and the development of
64 highly technical skills, such that many state employees are
65 well-prepared for jobs in the competitive marketplace in for
66 profit corporations but choose to work for the good of their
67 neighbors and fellow citizens, and
68 WHEREAS, under the present conditions, state employees are
69 overburdened because of cutbacks, layoffs, and the passage of 7
70 years without a competitive pay adjustment to their compensation
71 and benefits, and
72 WHEREAS, the Office of Economic and Demographic Research
73 estimates that general revenue will increase by 4.7 percent
74 during the next fiscal year, and
75 WHEREAS, modernizing tax collection through Mainstreet
76 Fairness and Marketplace Fairness acts will allow for more
77 complete collection of taxes owed to the state, and
78 WHEREAS, Florida’s state employees are long-deserving of
79 recognition for their steadfast performance of public service to
80 the citizens of the state through receipt of a competitive pay
81 adjustment, NOW THEREFORE,
82
83 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
84
85 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “State Employee
86 Fairness Act.”
87 Section 2. (1) Effective July 1, 2013, each state employee
88 is provided a competitive pay adjustment of 7 percent on the
89 employee’s June 30, 2013, base rate of pay.
90 (2) The Legislature shall appropriate funds necessary to
91 implement this section.
92 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.