Via Rock Strongo in the diaries, Scott Walker's administration has now offered a justification for giving Senator Randy Hopper's mistress a 35% raise at her new state job. WKOW in Madison reports:
Officials said Valerie Cass, 26, who sources identified as a woman involved in a relationship with Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac), was hired Feb. 7 by the department of regulation and licensing to a limited term, communications specialist position at an hourly rate of $20.35. The hourly rate is equivalent to an annual salary of $42,328. Officials said the position was vacated by Robyn Lockett on Jan. 19. Officials said Lockett’s hourly rate was $15.00 equivalent to an annual salary of $31,200.
"Ms. Cass’s compensation was set based on her professional experience in communications, her degree in journalism and the expansion of job duties to include policy research and analysis," DRL spokesperson David Carlson wrote in a statement.
So, the Scott Walker administration believes in giving a 35% raise to a state worker if she meets the following three criteria:
- She has relevant professional experience.
- She has a relevant college degree.
- Her job duties have expanded.
The problem with this rationale is that every public school teacher in Wisconsin meets the same criteria, and all the Walker administration offered them were cuts:
- Every public school teacher has relevant professional experience in teaching.
- Every public school teacher has a relevant bachelor's degree, and usually a master's degree.
- When Scott Walker threatened to fire droves of teachers, he was simultaneously threatening to expand the duties of all remaining teachers. This is because those layoffs would have resulted in a smaller number of people doing the same total amount of work. However, when the layoff notices were sent out, the teachers who did not receive layoff notices were not offered 35% raises. All they were offered was more cuts.
Try again Walker administration. Your rationale for giving Randy Hopper's mistress a state job with a 35% raise contradicts the primary rationale you have used to justify your public policy.