Bill would subsidize pay for active-duty state workers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For some state employees, the call to active military duty means not only potentially risking their lives but enduring a financial hardship with the loss of their state paychecks.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Denny Merideth, D-Caruthersville, would cover the gap between state and military pay for such workers pressed into service.

"This is something to take care of the people taking care of us," Merideth said Tuesday during a hearing before the House veterans affairs committee.

At present, 176 state employees are on active military duty. Merideth said more than 260 state workers spent in excess of three weeks engaged in service in the last year.

Those called up lose their state paychecks after 15 days but are entitled to full reinstatement to their jobs -- without back pay -- upon return. For enlisted personnel, that usually means a financial loss for the employees and their families, Merideth said.

Under Merideth's bill, the state would pay such workers the difference between their military and state salaries. The subsidy would extend to employees of any political subdivision in Missouri, including municipalities, counties and school districts.

Open to interpretation

The bill carries an estimated cost to the state of $480,000 a year, but that fiscal projection is open to interpretation. For example, a state worker being on military duty currently saves the state the cost of a salary budgeted but not being paid. Paying that employee a partial salary would cost the state less than if the worker was on the job. However, in some cases a replacement must be hired, adding to the state's overall cost.

Also, Merideth said the estimate assumes all workers called up would serve a full year, whereas most deployments are for six months.

The Missouri State Troopers Association asked Merideth, a retired Air Force fighter pilot, to sponsor the bill. Brad Thielemier, the group's lobbyist, said 24 troopers and more than 50 corrections officers are currently away on military service. However, Thielemier said most of those troopers are officers and draw higher salaries while on active duty than their state pay and still wouldn't receive any state pay under the measure.

Rainey Crawford, the Army Reserve's ambassador for Missouri, said reservists and National Guard members merit the financial safety net the measure would provide.

"Just leaving home, going on active duty carries an extreme burden for these individuals and their families," Crawford said. "We are talking about people going away to give their lives in many cases."

Five other Southeast Missouri lawmakers are co-sponsors of the bill -- Republicans Mark Richardson of Poplar Bluff, Peter Myers of Sikeston and Lanie Black of Charleston and Democrats Phillip Britt of Kennett and Don Koller of Summersville.

The committee took no action on the bill, HB 1934.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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