•Employee Turnover Rises, Legislators Discuss Pay Raises.
•All State Employees Invited to Appreciation Event!
•TPEA Submits Comments, Questions HHSC Cost Savings.
•Sign Up with An Email Address Outside of the Office.

Texas Public Employees Association wants state employees to be aware of legislative activities and developments affecting your job and career.

TPEA is sending this message to our members and to state employees who have participated at TPEA events and given us their e-mail addresses.

TPEA also requested and received e-mail addresses as public information from a number of state agencies.

If you do not wish to remain on this list, you can unsubscribe by following the instructions at the end of this message.

REMEMBER: STATE EMPLOYEES SHOULD NOT USE STATE EQUIPMENT OR STATE TIME TO ENGAGE IN ANY TYPE OF LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY EFFORTS.

This message should not be printed, replied to, or forwarded using state equipment, unless allowed by your agency's policies and procedures.

Employee Turnover Rises, Legislators Discuss Pay Raise
Following release of information about rising turnover among state employees, key legislators acknowledged the need to consider pay raises for state employees. TPEA used information from the State Auditor’s Office (click here to view) which showed employee turnover rose to 17.4 percent in 2003, costing the state over a quarter of a billion dollars. Employee exit survey results showed that, except for retirement, better pay and benefits was easily the most common reason citied for employees leaving state service. In an article in the San Antonio Express-News the chairmen of both the House and Senate budget-writing committees acknowledged the need to consider a pay raise during the next legislative session. Adequate state employee pay raises are TPEA’s top legislative priority for the 79th Legislature.

All State Employees Invited to Appreciation Event
As part of Texas Public Employees Association’s 59th Annual Meeting, all state employees are invited to attend a celebration in appreciation of state employees. This free event will take place this Thursday, June 24, from 5 to 7:30 pm, at historic Scholz’s Garten, 1607 San Jacinto St. in the Capitol Complex area of downtown Austin. In appreciation for the hard work of all state employees, TPEA will provide complimentary beverages and snacks, music by the “Go Getters”, and door prizes. All state employees are welcome at this appreciation event.

Interested state employees are also welcome to participate at TPEA’s 59th Annual Meeting, which is being held June 25-27 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Austin. For the first time, TPEA’s meeting has been certified for Continuing Education Credits. Attendees will be eligible for 14 Continuing Education Credits, including for CPAs. Click here to visit our homepage for more information on the Annual Meeting.

TPEA Submits Comments, Questions HHSC Cost Savings
TPEA has submitted comments to the Health and Human Services Commission regarding a series of RFPs being used to consider outsourcing state services and functions. TPEA has raised a number of concerns with regard to the outsourcing of human resource and payroll services, purchasing, and integrated eligibility and enrollment services. Click here to view these comments and other related materials. TPEA has also developed analyses of HHSC cost savings claims, which indicate HHSC has overstated projected cost savings and failed to recognize costs resulting directly from outsourcing state jobs. TPEA’s analysis suggests it may be more cost effective for the state to provide these services in-house under an “optimized model”, and that outsourcing these functions threatens the efficient delivery of state services.

Sign Up with An Email Address Outside of the Office
TPEA has been building a new list of email addresses – ones that don’t go to State computers or workplaces and instead to home and web-based email accounts. Because you are receiving this email, we invite you to join the new list. Signing up will ensure that TPEA can keep you up-to-date on all issues concerning Texas State Employees. Click here to add your email address.