Dorton named to Employee Wages panel

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Senate Leader Robert N. Mayer, R-Dexter, has appointed Brett Dorton of Dexter to serve on the Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages, the panel responsible for examining state worker wages.

Dorton was one of two Missouri citizens selected to serve on the panel, which includes three members of the Missouri Senate, three members from the House, one representative from the governor's office, and one representative from the State Personnel Advisory Board.

"Attracting and maintaining a talented and dedicated workforce is essential to providing critical state services to our state's citizens," said Mayer. "Mr. Dorton's background in the private banking industry will provide the panel with beneficial information on how to develop strategies for providing fair wages and benefit packages to Missouri's state employees."

The interim committee was created through the passage of House Concurrent Resolution 32 in May 2011. Members of the panel are responsible for comparing the wages of Missouri state employees to other state employees throughout the country, studying and developing strategies for increasing the wages of Missouri's state employees, and reporting its findings to the Senate Appropriations Committee and House Budget Committee by Dec. 31, 2011.

"I look forward to this opportunity to serve the state, and to work with the members of this committee in seeking to develop a plan to more adequately support Missouri's 57,000 state employees," said Dorton.

"These workers have been asked to 'do more with less,' and they have. It is vitally important to develop strategies to financially support and retain these talented and dedicated employees who serve the best interests of our state's citizens."

The committee held its first organizational meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at the State Capitol. Future meetings will be announced on the Missouri Senate website at www.senate.mo.gov -- under the Senate Hearing Schedule link.