Colorado Capitol.
Colorado Capitol. (file photo, Associated Press)

I am a state employee. I love my job and the people on the team I work with. Notwithstanding, I am disgusted that the Colorado legislature would pass (and the governor would sign) a compensation increase for members of the legislature while refusing to fund salary increases for state employees in four years. Talk about a self-inflated view of worth.

I am also a former state representative, and once received a more-than-generous General Assembly per diem, so I know that per diem money is used to pad a legislator's salary. It does not cost $183 a day to travel to Denver and live for 120 days. If that amount is annualized, it is nearly $67,000 a year in compensation solely for room, board and transportation. That amount is about $20,000 a year higher than Colorado's average salary, and it is per diem, not salary.

I know firsthand the workload that a legislator is faced with, and I also know firsthand the work ethic that a majority of legislators bring to office. While the legislature's workload has been decreasing over the last several years, the net compensation for state employees has decreased and the workload has increased. State employees have dealt with these changes with the understanding that when things got better in the broader economy the burden would lessen.

The majority of full-time state employees make much less in wages than the nearly $52,000 a year in total compensation these part-time legislators granted themselves. The increase in compensation from just one legislator could fund 2.5 percent raises for four state employees who make $36,000 a year. It isn't that an extra buck or two is going to drastically change our lives; it is that the members of the General Assembly and the governor keep piling on more work for less compensation. And then they all agree we deserve less while they deserve more.

I recently had dinner with a senator friend of mine who was actually surprised at how little my yearly wages are. (I do not use the state benefit package that the public erroneously believes is so fantastic. My wife has a private-sector package that is far superior and less expensive.)

All indications are that the economy is starting to hum. Private-sector job numbers have been increasing steadily, people are spending more money, credit is loosening, and the stock market is on fire. My wife's company has awarded her bonuses several times over the last few years because business is good. My daughter's company has promoted her and increased her wages. State revenues are up and the legislature had enough money to grant its members compensation increases.

What about taking care of employees? When I worked in the private sector, the people I worked with and for always paid employees first. Not so with the state. The legislature was considering more cuts to employee compensation even after increased revenue numbers came in and after voting itself an increase. They conspire with the governor, who has repeatedly said that he needs to make changes in state personnel without ever giving specific justification.

One of the explanations given by the leadership for granting itself raises was that it would take a special piece of legislation to stop it from happening. Well, then, do it! It isn't hard to draft a bill and have it pass through the process if there is a will.

Two of the bills that the General Assembly passed this session had to do with the "recognition of the 100th anniversary of the Grand Winter Sports Carnival" and the designation of Colorado 4-H Day.

The process is the same regardless of the subject matter. It's painfully obvious that the only reason not to run a bill that would cut legislator pay is that legislators did not want to cut their own pay. This occurs while legislators and the governor nurture an opinion that state employees are useless, lazy and overpaid.

I remember once reading that a collective body has no conscience. This has never been more evident.

Bryan Jameson of Denver is a former state representative from Fort Collins.