NOTE: As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used in any other situation.

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(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

This bill proposes to define "annual" for payroll administration to mean 52 weeks. This bill is intended to address the administrative difficulties encountered in paying the statutory salaries set in statute.

Significant Issues

This bill contains an emergency clause.

The salaries for elected officials are set on a fiscal year basis but are paid on a calendar year basis. This has caused individuals to miss a pay period at the end of a calendar year because their statutory yearly salaries have been met without the additional pay period.

According to the Administrative Office of the Courts:

In calendar year 1998, non-returning judges who were in office for the entire calendar year did not receive a paycheck for the last pay period in the calendar year because their statutory salary had been met the previous pay period. Research conducted to date has revealed that judges should have received pay for the last pay period in office because they were unpaid for their first calendar year of service. Payment of such salary was not possible because of the statutory pay limitation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill will have a impact on the salaries paid to individuals whose salaries are set in statute when there are more than 26 pay periods, 2080 hours, in a fiscal year. The most significant fiscal impact will be on the judiciary budgets where there are a high number of elected officials. Other agency budgets with elected officials will have minimal impact. For FY99 the AOC anticipates an additional liability of $48.3, which is the difference between 26 and 26.1 pay periods. At the current statutory rate for judges, the additional impact for FY2000 is expected to be approximately $96.6, the difference between 26 and 26.2 pay periods. For these two fiscal years, the courts anticipate absorbing the additional liability.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The administrative impact associated with current law is expected to decrease significantly with this bill.

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