removal of the 20 year limitation on
prior service credit/ Wàsÿ unselfishly
made in behalf of only 4 out of every
100 employees, many of .whom, on ac
count of
extreme âge would n,ot
be here two years later, at’which time
the legislature agreed to- reconsider ’the
request. I
Wages
I The I action granting a deficit I ap
propriation. to make the pay plan ef
fective March 1, 1947,, was a most
commendable recognition of a situa
tion which was effectively presented
by our legal’4 jcounsel,.\F. Leo Smith.
State employees are justified in retain
ing complete /'Confidence in the con
sideration they will receive from Ore
gon legislators when they have a real
case to present and when they present
it B Q respectful and dignified m an
ner. Every O.S.E.A. member may feel
proud of the courteous and effective
manner in which this presentation was
made and every »state employee who
is not an Association member is in
debted to
Association in this
matter. I
The action of the legislature in rais
ing salaries of the Governor and other
elected officials, and the unclassified
service in g énéral was in accordance
w ith the recommendations of^ the
O.S.E.A. General, Council. Equity,
fairness and economic peed, as well, as
a desire to continue to attract higher
type public officials justified this ac
tion. The ^action has removed that ar
tificial ceiling which in so many in
stances interfered I with I the proper
graduation of the classified service 'pay
plan.
Sales Tax
State employees should- recognize
their interest in the proposed sales tax
measure. The O.S.E.A. General Coun
cil, in November, pointed out that
the welfare of sta te service and iB^fu-
fcure growth, and prosperity of the state
Q a I whoie depended upon the adop
tion, of a fair and equitable plan for
5
the, distribution of the tax burden.
State employees are, I know, patriotic
!and unselfish enough to desire to carry
their rightful share of this cost of, gov
ernment as a duty of citizenship. The
Legislature' presents the sales tax plan
as the ihost equitable plan to distribute
the tax burden and provide adequate
financial support for governmental ac
tivities. State employees should all rec
ognize thg necessity of supporting the
plan, proposed and recommended by
the legislature in every way possible.
Conclusions
• In concl^sjoU. I would say that Stafe
Employees received ¿¿yety considerate
treatm ent by the 44th Oregon Legisla
tive- Assembly. The Civil Service A ct
and the Public Employees Retirement
AcT> were amended but in practicably
every case to improve and make them
more effective. The principle of merit
in the Tubhc Service was* reendorsed.
The reputation of the O,S.E.A. with
the legislators remains, one of high
regard for the B Q welfare as ^ell^as
for employee welfare. The views and
requests of the ’Association were pre
sented Q a courteous and dignified
mann^t and pur representatives at- the
legislature, deserve5 commendation for
their hard Work and their courteous
and dignified presentation in our be-
halL
RAISE MILEAGE ALLOW ANCE
Newspaper editorial workers, gener
ally regarded as the lpwest paid profes
sional people in the nation along- w ith
public I workers, received higher car,
mileage allowances .in Houston rendh-tf
ly. Texas Week' reported that workers
on the Houston P m s signed a new e x
tr a c t recently' that called for seven
cents a mile, instead of six cents.
/■/—The Texas Public Employee
M aterial,/for magazine received by
May 21 will appear in May-June issue.
Send contributions to OSE A, 1,41 Pa.-
gific Bldg., Salem.