What a Joke: GOP Reaction to Dem Sick Leave Bill

I know disingenuousness is just part of the normal political game. But for legislative Republicans to claim that Dems are "late to the party" for recently announcing a bill to eliminate the sick leave conversion policy for legislators is truly eye-rolling.

Let's hop on the truth trolley for a moment: Democratic state legislator Sheldon Wasserman drafted a bill to eliminate the sick leave policy in 2003. The response he got from both sides of the aisle was a combination of blank stares and crickets chirping.

Now digest that nugget of reality with this statement that Republican Senator Ted Kanavas released yesterday:

It's about time. This issue has been a no-brainer from day one. While I am pleased that some Democrats in the Senate have finally seen the light, I wish they would have reached this obvious conclusion six months ago rather than blocking our common sense reform.

Ah, and who was running the legislature in 2003 when Wasserman floated his bill around? Oh, that's right, the GOP controlled both the Assembly and the Senate. Didn't "common sense" exist back then?

What a joke.

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Side-Note: See this post for my take on the policy side of the proposal (here's a teaser: I'm skeptical of its value and the resulting impact). Be sure to check out the good discussion that ensues in the comments; and if you have further comments on that post, feel free to leave them here.

Figuring the Real Cost of the Sick Leave Policy

Before some people get themselves into a tizzy over news that the sick leave policy for elected state officials isn't going anywhere, at least for awhile, can the LAB or the LFB do an audit to find out the actual amount of sick leave time that's converted to pay for retiree health care premiums?

While tabulating the total number of hours that people accumulate is great for an eye-catching story that helps sell papers or a press statement aimed at generating political support, it isn't really all that informative for the policy debate.

As the Recess Supervisor noted back in November: "Just because Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson has banked half a million in sick leave doesn't mean she's going to come anywhere close to spending all of it. She'd probably have to live another three epochs to do that."

Once we see what the actual cost of the sick leave compensation is to the state, it'll be easier to weigh the possible options for reform.

Perhaps better sick time reporting is all that's needed, as Governor Doyle is proposing. Perhaps sick time should be converted into a dollar amount after each year, rather than at the end of a person's career when the conversion rate is highest, as Bruce Murphy has proposed. Perhaps it's best to do away will the policy altogether, after all.

But we won't really know what needs to be done until we really know the actual cost.