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Texas Public Employees Association Names Senator Tommy Williams Legislator of Year for 2005
Lawmakers’ Budget Work Built Foundation for Significant Pay Raise for State Employees
AUSTIN, Texas (August 19, 2005) – Texas state Senator Tommy Williams of The Woodlands has been named 2005 Legislator of the Year from the Texas Senate by the Texas Public Employees Association (TPEA).
TPEA Executive Director Gary W. Anderson said as a new member of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Williams was given considerable budgetary responsibility and the working group he chaired devised a state employee pay raise, oversaw budgets for the Employees Retirement System (ERS) and handled other major budget issues.
“Thanks to Senator Williams’ efforts, the Senate budget bill set a high standard for state employee compensation – the first back-to-back pay raises in 14 years and the most significant package of compensation increases in more than two decades,” Anderson said.
Anderson praised Senator Williams for crafting the state employee pay raise by involving other senators and their staffs, state agency representatives and employee groups in roundtable discussions. Senator Williams then used those findings to persuade the leadership to fund the pay raises.
Senator Williams said information provided by TPEA was instrumental in making the case for an employee pay raise.
“State employees represent a significant asset to taxpayers and they are an investment that must be maintained,” he said
Accepting the award at TPEA’s recent Annual Meeting in Dallas , Senator Williams said, “Public employees make state government work. Many in the Legislature recognize that it is the efforts of state employees that make Texas a better place. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m deeply humbled by this. Thank you very much.”
Anderson also recognized Senator Williams’ role in securing important funding for ERS, both in terms of maintaining current health insurance benefits for state employees and retirees without any of the cost-shifting proposals recommended by the Legislative Budget Board, as well as increasing the state retirement contribution to 6.45 percent.
Established in 1946, TPEA is a 15,000-member, non-union, professional association and is the oldest and largest legislative advocacy group representing current and retired state employees.