SB 424 changes assistant attorney general base pay

Chief Sponsors: Sen. Manning Jr and Rep Rayfield.
This bill allows base pay of attorneys who are employed by public corporation, nonprofit organization, public university or city or county in this state and who perform substantially similar work to be used for comparison of compensation for assistant attorneys general.

Fiscal Responsibility
At the current time, in negotiating and setting wages, the Oregon DOJ is limited by law to comparing our salaries to attorneys working for the four surrounding states. Except for California, the bordering AGOs are not competitive and are not the competitors. However, a raise in base rates should not be a priority when funds are limited since it will increase the cost to taxpayers. We have seasoned assistant attorneys that are their to serve the public, not compete with Multnomah County.

Limited Government
Public employees who are represented by a union must negotiate mandatory subjects of bargaining with their employer as part of the collective bargaining process. One mandatory subject of bargaining is base pay. If there is no agreement between the parties and an arbitrator is charged with making a decision, the arbitrator must base their findings and decision on the interest and welfare of the public and several additional factors. One addition factor is comparison of overall compensation to other employees performing similar work. Statutes gives specific parameters for determining what comparable pay is for Department of State Police troopers and telecommunicators. SB 424 allows the base pay of attorneys employed by a public corporation, nonprofit organizations, public universities, cities, and counties who perform similar work to serve as a comparison for the base pay of assistant attorneys general.