Its one of the best kept secrets of Floridas austere, $70.4 billion state budget.
Yet its also among the budget provisions most certain to become law this fractured election year.
A $1.4 million pay raise for the 720 law enforcement officers in the states Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is tucked into the spending plan approved by lawmakers last month and expected to be sent to Gov. Charlie Crist as early as Thursday.
Although more than 120,000 Florida state workers will face a fifth consecutive year with no pay raise, the FWC pay-hike is considered certain to avoid the risk of a Crist veto because it complies with the governors earlier budget recommendation that salary increases be given agencies facing excessive turnover or recruitment difficulties.
But perhaps even more important: FWC personnel are represented by the Florida Police Benevolent Association, one of the few political organizations that endorsed Crists U.S. Senate bid and stayed with him following his break last month with the Republican Party.
I would imagine hes probably not going to spend a lot of time reviewing this one, said Sterling Ivey, the governors spokesman.
The pay raise is included in a salary and benefits line-item that steers a recurring federal grant toward giving officers a 3 percent salary boost, agency officials said. FWC officers currently earn a $31,879 annual, base starting salary, which has made them susceptible to better offers from federal law enforcement and local police agencies.
Over the past three years, Fish and Wildlife officials have been forced to replace 166 officers or close to a quarter of the workforce, said Jackie Fauls, the agencys legislative affairs director. Dozens of agency personnel in recent weeks have been deployed as Florida readies for cleanup duty stemming from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Retention is a priority, said Fauls, adding that FWC unsuccessfully sought the pay raise the past four years. Otherwise, its costly to replace and train people.
The PBA pushed for the increase, said lobbyist David Murrell, in part to keep Fish and Wildlife officers competitive in salary with Florida Highway Patrol and state corrections officers, whose workers are also represented by the union and have received pay raises separate from other state employees over the past few years.
Murrell also pointed out that the union has long been in Crists corner and didnt waver when Crist bolted from the Republican Party last month to run as a no-party-affiliated contender for Senate. Crist on Thursday switched his personal voter registration to no-party, as well.
Im sure there may be some jealousy among other unions when one gets a pay raise and others dont, Murrell conceded. But if its new money, extra money, its needed to fight the turnover rate.
Fauls said the pay raise was cinched this spring only when it became clear to House and Senate budget-writers that the hike could be covered by a multi-year federal grant for wildlife and boating law enforcement.
Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee, who clamored for across-the-board state worker pay raises, but settled for avoiding proposed salary cuts and layoffs during the recently concluded session, said he had been unaware of the FWC increase, but felt it was justified.
I dont think there will be any hard feelings among state workers, Lawson said. In certain categories, youve got to find a way to stop the revolving door.
