Agency faces $1.3M budget hit
The state agency responsible for enforcing and processing child support payments is facing a $1.3 million hit to its budget for the 2017 fiscal year that begins in July — a loss that will hamper customer service and overall operations, according to officials who oversee the department.
The Child Support Enforcement Agency, which falls under the Department of the Attorney General, is facing a 10 percent cut in state general fund appropriations, or $436,935. But because the federal government matches the state funding 2-to-1, the loss is felt all the more, said Lynette Lau, the agency’s administrator.
“Any time there is any kind of restriction on our budget, it is always hard,” she said, adding that the funding was meant to fill vacant positions.
The proposed cut was one of the issues highlighted Tuesday during a legislative briefing at the state Capitol to review Gov. David Ige’s 2017 fiscal year budget proposal, which he submitted to lawmakers last month.
It’s now up to the Legislature in the coming months to approve a final budget. Lawmakers can amend the budget, but Ige has line-item veto powers and can choose not to release funding for certain projects or agencies.
Hawaii’s Child Support Enforcement Agency has struggled in the past. A 2013 congressional report found that Hawaii ranked last in the country for collecting overdue child support payments.
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“I think we need to emphasize to the governor the loss of this kind of funding,” said Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Downtown- Nuuanu-Liliha).
Attorney General Doug Chin responded that the agency “will make sure to re-emphasize that.”
Chin is also requesting $1.9 million to boost the salaries of about 170 deputy attorneys general who work in his office to close a salary gap between them and other public-sector attorneys, particularly those who work for the City and County of Honolulu.
Chin had initially requested $4.2 million in deputy salary increases, but Ige approved only $1.9 million, according to budget documents.
On average, a deputy attorney general receives about 24 percent less pay a year than attorneys who work for the city Department of Corporation Counsel, which is essentially the AG’s city counterpart.
The low salaries are making it difficult for the office to recruit and retain attorneys, while contributing to low employee morale, according to reports Chin submitted to the Legislature.
“Recently some well-qualified applicants stated that they chose not to pursue our available positions because the salary was lower than expected,” according to budget materials provided to lawmakers. “Current delays in our services to our clients are due in some part to an inability to fill positions.”
The documents warn that at some point the state may be “disadvantaged legally” because legal advice and services are delayed.
A new attorney starting with the attorney general’s office earns a median salary of $58,008, according to the analysis. By comparison, starting salaries at the city Office of Corporation Counsel are about $85,483 — a difference of 32 percent.
The discrepancy remains significant among experienced attorneys. Deputy attorneys general with more than 25 years of experience earn a median salary of $89,016, compared with city attorneys who earn $115,196.
“Really, the request is a request for parity,” Chin said. “To our minds, we do similar if not more extensive work.”
Lawmakers questioned Chin on how he would determine the level of raises, which would be partly merit-based.
Chin said the raises would be based on evaluations by supervisors as well as a peer group.
Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Moanalua-Halawa) grew skeptical at one point during the hearing, pointing out the underperformance of the agency’s Medicaid fraud unit.
“If someone’s not performing, you move them into another position,” she said. “Now you’re going to give them raises?”
Chin said that performance would be factored into any salary increase.
17 responses to “Agency faces $1.3M budget hit”
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So glad that the rail’s budget will never fall short. Taxes will be raised in pronto mode.
I hope it’s not a move that’s penny wise and pound foolish.
Maybe two stones, mate. One stone is 14 pounds.
The bigger problem is when someone is not performing, you don’t move them to another position. They should receive a verbal, then written, then shown the door. Enough with keeping slackers, clock milkers and general goof offs. They need to make it easier to fire people.
Agree but that could be said for a large percentage of the entire city and state work force !
You realize you just mentioned every city, state, and federal bureaucrat elected from the Nei.
Why does corporation counsel make so much? Aren’t there countless stories of corporation counsel just rolling over and paying out huge settlement amounts for any manini lawsuit? And the Legislature is no better — don’t they always complaint that the state is wasting money hiring private attorneys to represent the government, then Kim turns around and says the government attorneys aren’t any good. This State doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, in just about every subject.
Did you notice all Attorney General Doug Chin did was whine like a Union Boss for more and more money. He thinks by magically raising the salaries of his attorneys by about $35k the problem will magically go away. They will suddenly eliminate the backlog, money will instantly flow to those who need it. Utopia.
Notice Doug failed to mention all the supposed vacancies in his area due to low pay. Notice he also failed to mention ways to improve the process to get work done faster for the people he does have. Increasing efficiency and lowering costs should be his goal.
Sorry Doug. Throwing money at a problem versus fixing never works as we saw with the state health care site. This is what bureaucrats do. Wasting money, getting nothing down.
Frankly, attorneys are a dime a dozen. There is a huge surplus of them since many of the law offices cut back. Automation and de-skilling of the profession. UH Law grads are happy to have any job so the given salaries seem very generous.
Volleyball players are a penny a dozen, allie.
Discussions regarding salary don’t mean much without considering employee benefits.
I’m just wondering why the city pays their inept attorneys that much, those couldn’t even make a finding when their counsel bosses admitted of taking bribe already.
Geez! I had no idea that the AG’s deputies are paid so poorly. No wonder that we have had so much trouble getting effective representation and advice from that office when dealing with our cases.
Soon the word, AG, in Hawaii will mean, All Gone. The budget, that is.
The problem is that Corp. counsel is paid too much. Why not lower their salaries to be in line with the AG’s office.
Lower their pay and they will work for the post office instead. Union is very strong there.
How many deputy AGs do we need? Is that like having an assistant to the department head or is this the assistant to the assistant of the assistant?