Gov. Daniels has spent a lot of time and energy in the last couple of years getting the message out that every department in the state had to make sacrifices to see us through the fiscal emergency. So this doesn't make any sense:
State employees got some happy holiday news Tuesday: After a two-year pay freeze, Gov. Mitch Daniels decided that most of them will get raises next year.
Daniels, who said it has been "very disappointing" to him not to be able to grant raises over the past two years, sent letters to state workers with the good news, according to a news release from the governor's office.
The raises will be flat amounts tied to performance reviews and are expected to average out to a 1.3 percent increase. The total cost is projected to be about $20 million.
It's not as if the emergency is over -- they're expecting to have to plug a $1 billion budget hole. And many people in the private sector have either lost their jobs or are getting less pay than they once did. A two-year pay freeze doesn't sound all that bad to them.
