We couldn’t agree more.
Editorial: When the public pays, it has a right to know
Only if public information is truly public can citizens see what government is doing
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, March 12, 2008
State government is by far the largest employer in the Sacramento region. Close to 28,000 Sacramento County residents work for the state of California. More than 40,000 residents of the four-county metropolitan area – Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado and Placer counties – work for the state.
Given state government's outsized role in the local economy, The Bee would be derelict if it failed to report on state government and its workers.
In a recent article, "State pay hikes soar – for some," The Bee's Phillip Reese compiled state employee salary and employment information that has long been available in public databases. The article revealed that those at the top of the state bureaucracy received bigger pay raises that those at the bottom.
It is admittedly an incomplete picture. The database doesn't include overtime pay. If overtime were included, the prison guards would zoom to the top of the salary scale. The Bee's database does not include benefits either. While public employee union representatives often argue that state workers are paid less than those with similar responsibilities in the private sector, the picture often looks different when benefits are factored in. Retirement benefits for state workers are guaranteed. They come with retiree health benefits unheard of in most private-sector employment contracts.
