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Legislators push sick leave drafts

With time running out on the current legislative session at the state Capitol, lawmakers are clamoring to squeeze their priorities through before Thursday.

Four Republican lawmakers asked Monday for a vote on legislation that would end a current practice that allows state officials to store up pay from unused sick days for use upon retirement.

The legislators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, calling the practice “wasteful and unnecessary spending.”

Last March, the Assembly passed a bill that would prevent state legislators, district attorneys, judges and other elected officials from accumulating sick leave from year to year.

“I don’t think it should be the government’s responsibility to provide health care benefits for life to legislators,” said Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield. “It should be about service, not ‘What kind of benefits can I accrue when I leave here?’”

The bill would have saved the state $3.4 million in the year since the Assembly passed it, according to a nonpartisan memo the Republicans cited. If the bill does not pass the Senate before Thursday, the proposal would be back to square one and would have to go through the entire process again.

According to Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Decker, this bill and others like it have a chance yet.

“There’s still a lot happening this week,” Lynch said. “We’re definitely considering putting it on the agenda.”

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, said if the measure is not scheduled today, it won’t happen this session.

“They can give it lip service, but action speaks louder than words,” Darling said. “Their lack of action tells me they don’t want it to happen. They want to keep their perk.”

The savings would also be one small step to managing the current budget shortfall, according to Rep. Rich Zipperer, R-Pewaukee.

“It’s important to remember that everyday costs are being accrued to the taxpayer, so we’re looking at a large sum by the end of the year,” Zipperer said.

The Assembly bill is waiting for a hearing in the committee chaired by Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison. According to Risser, there are usually a lot of bills and a lot of requests for votes at the end of a session, and he was not aware of any particular interest in that one.

“All bills don’t have hearings,” Risser said. “We had a hearing on a Senate bill related to the same thing that left out the DAs and the judges.”