By Rep. Bob Vogel
Over the years I’ve learned that just because something can be done, does not mean it should be done. This philosophy sounds simple, but also has served as a valuable leadership tenet I learned to follow over 40 years in running a small business.
The most resent example of this, which has generated quite a few e-mails to me, is Gov. Mark Dayton’s recent decision to provide commissioners already making salaries well into the six figures increases ranging up to $35,000. Although the emails have called upon me to work to reverse those raises, I found they were made possible due to changes the Legislature and Dayton made in 2013, so now the power to make those changes is beyond any control we have in the Legislature this year.
This being the case, I can comprehend why he may have made the decision because there are always concerns someone could leave for a better-paying opportunity. However, from my perspective, there are a few reasons why I don’t believe this was the time to make those increases.
First of all, we are still in a period of uneven economic growth, so these raises come at a time take-home pay for average families remains flat and many Minnesotans continue struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the Great Recession. Secondly, as stewards of taxpayer dollars we are counted on as state leaders to be careful guardians of the public’s money. Therefore, the decision to provide large raises struck a nerve with citizens in our area and is an indication to me they believe the compensation was probably fair at the previous level, relative to the risk of losing people because of pay.
I’m also reminded that reliance on future budget surpluses can easily turn the other way. By spending discretionary money now, it could come back to haunt us later. At this point our economy continues to gradually recover from that historic downturn of several years ago and the most recent state forecast calls for a $1 billion surplus, which was part of the reasoning for the raises. If, on the other hand, the budget expectations turn the other way, we could be faced with the increased overhead of the pay raises going out into the future and the need to find ways to balance a budget in a down economy.
Over the years, people, including myself, have made decisions based on expectations which did not become reality and then were saddled with the results of those decisions when the resources were not available to support them. My concern is that if we as a state start to spend thinking we have a surplus we could get caught in that same trap, causing pain in the future that might have been prevented by doing things differently today.
So now is not the time to let down our guard. I believe for the long-term financial integrity of our state we need make salary and spending decisions based on what we should do, rather than what we want to do. It’s not always easy, but usually the best.
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