For the second year in a row Missouri’s family support division is winning a multi-million dollar award for efficiency in efficiency in administering the food stamp program. DSS Director Deborah Scott is quoted as saying “FSD employees work tirelessly to assure that Missourians who qualify for this important nutrition program receive their benefits accurately and quickly. Missourians can be proud of our employees for this achievement.”
What Missourians should not be proud of is that by Director Scott’s own accounting, the Family Support Division is currently working at 65% of the needed staffing levels. Not only that, but Missouri currently ranks 49 out of 50 states in terms of state employee pay.
Last year CWA Local 6355 which represents these hardworking employees petitioned Director Scott and Governor Blunt to allocate at least some of the money earned back to the employees in the form of a holiday bonus. These would have allowed many of these hardworking families to buy presents for their children without wondering how they would also pay the rising gas bill to heat their home. Their petition was rejected because the Office of Administration claims that they are not setup in a way in which they can give bonuses (suggesting they must use the most antiquated payroll system ever).
But wait, it turns out there is one politician who can make this happen for his staff, Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder! It has been widely reported how Lt. Governor Kinder gave some employees temporary raises (or bonuses) while others did political work. There was no need for these employees to earn national merit, he was just being nice. http://www.stltoday.com/stltod…
I wonder if Peter Kinder will call on the Governor and Director Scott to do the same for the hardworking state employees as he did for his own staff? I won’t hold my breath…
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on a technicality. He arranged the extra pay BEFORE his aides supposedly did the extra work (though the pay records show they did even less work than usual). Technically, that’s not a bonus. A bonus is money paid AFTER the duty is performed for doing exceptionally good work.
Tell me it makes more sense to pay Kinder’s aides half again their salary AFTER the legislative session has ended and less work is required than it would to grant some extra pay to people who work for the good of the community even though they make little for themselves.
What can I say? Kinder’s a Republican, interested only in looking out for people who are already doing just fine, thank you very much. He looks upon good and generous people as suckers.