Member Updates:

• May 22 Retirement Benefits Update
• May 19 Pay Raise Update 2
• May 17 Pay Raise Update
• May 15 Retirement Benefits Update
• May 7 Retirement Benefits Update
• April 17 Legislative Update
• April 10 Legislative Update
• February Senate Finance Committee Testimony
• February Senate Finance Hearing Update
  
• January Legislative Update

Senate Finance Hearing – February 7, 2013

Goal is to Increase Trooper Salaries

The Senate Finance Committee met on Thursday, February 7, 2013 to discuss a number of funding issues, including public safety. Our main priority for this hearing is Schedule C pay equity — i.e. increasing the salaries of state troopers in an effort to make them competitive with their counterparts at other law enforcement agencies.

Background on the salary disparity:

In October, the Texas State Auditor’s Office issued a report that compared the maximum base pay (the highest level of pay within a salary range) for the state’s trooper position with the average maximum base pay for police officer, corporal, or detective positions at the seven largest local law enforcement departments in Texas.

Results of the comparison showed that the State’s law enforcement salary schedule (Salary Schedule C) is not competitive with the average maximum base pay at the seven largest local law enforcement departments in Texas.

In fact, the seven largest law enforcement departments’ maximum base pay is 20.6 percent above the State’s maximum base pay for the Trooper position in salary group C3. And the mid-range base pay is 9.3 percent above the State’s mid-range pay for the Trooper position in salary group C3.

This is particularly unsettling because three of the four state agencies that employ law enforcement officers have higher degree requirements than the largest local law enforcement departments. (The Alcoholic Beverage Commission does not require an entry-level officer to have college credits, but it does require a peace officer certification as a minimum qualification.) Moreover, all seven local law enforcement departments surveyed provide field training officer duty pay (ranging from $1200 - $8,532), and six of them provide shift differential pay. The State does not offer field training officer pay or shift differential pay.

The State Auditor report concluded that to make Salary Schedule C more competitive with the market, changes would need to be made.

Messages on the Pay Increase

• We are working to rectify this disparity in pay for troopers, so they can receive the compensation they’ve earned and deserve.
• In today’s challenging and ever changing threat environment, the Texas troopers now operate at an investigative level unlike any law enforcement agency in the country.  Competing with other higher paying law enforcement agencies has made it difficult to recruit and retain quality employees.
• By achieving higher compensation rates for troopers, we will attract and retain these high performing officers.

If you have any questions or comments please submit there here.