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LINCOLN — Gov. Dave Heineman will freeze the salaries of additional state employees for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Heineman announced his plans in a letter sent Tuesday to all state employees.
The newly announced freeze will save about $4.4 million and affect about 2,900 employees not covered by union agreements. Most are mid-level managers and supervisors.
Heineman also asked the largest state employees union to rethink its position on pay freezes for its workers. If the union agrees, the state could save a projected $10 million.
“In a spirit of fairness and in order to minimize future layoffs, I am asking you to reconsider your decision,” he said.
The Nebraska Association of Public Employees rejected Heineman’s previous call to give up 2.5 percent pay increases scheduled to take effect July 1.
Julie Dake Abel, the union’s executive director, said she will present the governor’s latest letter to members but doesn’t know how they will respond.
She said the 10,500 employees represented by the union tend to be lower-paid state workers who can least afford a pay freeze.
Heineman has not presented any specifics about jobs that would be saved by adopting a freeze, Dake Abel said.
The union has received several notices about state agency layoffs in the last few months, she said.
In January, Heineman ordered a freeze for top administrators in the 25 agencies he directly controls. The order affected about 230 administrators and agency directors.
The administrators in those agencies had been scheduled to receive an average 2.5 percent pay hike July 1.
Some state agencies not under the governor’s control, including the State Game and Parks Commission and State Historical Society, also said they would accept a wage freeze for their supervisory employees.
The Legislature imposed a wage freeze for all its workers, who are not union members, as well as furloughs.
No decision has been made yet about pay freezes for employees in the state court system.
Last November, state lawmakers used across-the-board and specific spending cuts to help close a $334 million budget gap.
They passed additional cuts this spring to deal with a further slump in state tax revenue.
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