Letter: Guinn apparently will go way of Miller on COLA

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Thursday, June 3, 1999 | 11:40 a.m.

I was rather shocked that Gov. Kenny Guinn and the leadership in both the Assembly and the Senate called the increase in salary a raise. That is such a tragedy and a misnomer. It is only a COLA, nothing more and nothing less. It is not a raise.

The increase will take place in July 2000. That is one year from now. Gov. Guinn and the leadership in the Legislature have no idea what happened to state workers in 1991 when then-Gov. Bob Miller did about the same thing, not really knowing that the economy would sputter just a little, causing Gov. Miller to cancel the COLA.

Gov. Miller lost in court a few months later to the State of Nevada Employees Association, which represents state workers. State workers who were members of the association voted to go against Gov. Miller and his actions, which were found by the Nevada Supreme Court to be illegal.

Gov. Miller lost in court and was very angry and, because of that and until he left office, kept his door closed to state workers and to SNEA. It appears that Gov. Guinn will do likewise sometime after July of 2000.

W. MARK CLARKE