Bill would prevent names of public employees from release with their salaries

A bill introduced by Sen. Stephen H. Martin, R-Chesterfield, would prevent the names of public employees and officials from being released with information about their salaries.

As proposed, Senate Bill 812 would amend Virginia Freedom of Information Act laws to exclude names from release with compensation information.

"In my judgment, it's not necessary for the public to know who makes exactly what," Martin said by phone Tuesday.

Martin said the bill was introduced in response to a state salary database that the Richmond Times-Dispatch published online in October. The database included the names of employees earning above the average salary of $50,298.

"Constituents of mine that were concerned about it asked me to introduce this legislation," said Martin, adding that "they were probably state employees or family of state employees."

The Times-Dispatch has also published salary databases for Richmond-area localities for a number of years. Martin's bill, as written, would apply to both state and local governments.

"My main concern is the lower-income folks, not the executives and administration. I just think it's unjust to make our employees' names and all that information public."

The proposed legislation, however, would exempt the names of all public servants regardless of compensation.

Ginger Stanley, executive director of the Virginia Press Association, said her organization would oppose the bill.

"We believe there's an important feature in seeing how our tax dollars are being spent and to not have the ability to see that information just flies in the face of open records," she said.

"Without the name [of the employee], you just don't know," Stanley added. "You're speculating at that point, and it can be worse when you're just guessing. That's definitely not a good situation."

Chesterfield County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier said the privacy of lower-level earners had been his concern in releasing salary information in past years.

The Times-Dispatch has previously released the names and salaries of nearly all local government employees, but this year opted to amend the databases to include only the name of employees earning more than the average salary.

"I think that's a really fair compromise," Stegmaier said. "It walks that fine line between having to be responsible in terms of your level of openness and avoiding what some people might call an unfair, voyeuristic approach."

Stegmaier added that he felt "salaries for senior-level officials is a legitimate topic of conversation in the public arena."

Megan H. Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, called Martin's proposal "ultimately unworkable."

"There's nothing to prevent you from going down an employee roster and saying, 'Give me George Smith's salary information,' and they would have to do it," she said.

Rhyne conceded that the proposed law would make it more difficult for a person or news agency to obtain the specific information, but added that it would also make things more difficult for the government trying to process the requests.

"It doesn't make it any more efficient for government, which I know is something that the governor is really pushing for," she said.

Rhyne noted that there's a philosophical argument to be made, too.

"Part of the trade-off for public employment, which includes more stability and, on average, better pensions and benefits, is having people know who you are and what you make," she said.

She noted that making such information freely accessible is also a benefit to employees who can see if they are being compensated fairly compared with people with similar positions and credentials.

Rhyne suggested that a more effective way to accomplish Martin's stated goal of protecting lower earners would be to raise the Virginia Freedom of Information Act's $10,000 salary threshold beneath which all compensation information is off limits.

whester@timesdispatch.com

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