by Andrew Walden

State bureaucrats should be eager to hear from private sector head hunters under the provisions of an Executive Order quietly signed by Governor Abercrombie April 11.

Loaded in random position on the Gubernatorial website with several other previously unannounced orders, the text of Executive Order 13-03 allows “compensation adjustments for civil service EMCP employees within the Executive Branch (not including the Department of Education/Board of Education or public charter schools)….”

At the discretion of the appointing authority, the pay of an existing employee may be adjusted up to the maximum authorized hiring rate as determined under the guidelines of the flexible hiring rates policy….

A retention adjustment may be used at the discretion of the appointing authority to counteroffer and match the base pay (and SD, if applicable) of an official job offer that the employee has received….

This is likely to spawn a new cottage industry -- Cronies Hiring Cronies.  Politically connected crony capitalist corporations—many supported by tax-credits--will do favors for insiders by presenting them with an ‘official’ job offer.  The inside crony will use to offer as leverage to scoop more dollars out of the public trough perhaps boosting their “top three’ earnings in time for a fat pension payout.  It will be the new, legal, and inexpensive way of bribing Cabinet members and their top lieutenants.   

Here is a complete list of all of the new Executive Orders for 2013.  Unlike the Abercrombie administration, we are listing them in numerical order:

• Executive Order No. 4425, Jan 9, 2013 Withdrawing Land From The Operation Of Governor's Executive Order No. 2554 Dated February 16, 1971
• Executive Order No. 4426, Jan. 9, 2013 Setting Aside Land For Public Purposes
• Executive Order No. 4427, Feb. 27, 2013 Cancellation Of Governor's Executive Order No. 4109 Dated June 15, 2005
• Executive Order No. 4428, Feb. 28, 2013 Setting Aside Land For Public Purposes
• Executive Order No. 13-01 February 19, 2013 Establishes the Hawaii Refinery Task Force
• Supplemental Executive Order No. 1 to Executive Order No. 13-01 March 12, 2013 Supplemental Executive Order No. 1 to Executive Order No. 13-01 Establishing the Hawaii Refinery Task Force
• Executive Order No. 13-02, April 5, 2013 Establishing the Sequestration Impact Response Team
• Executive Order No. 13-03, April 11, 2013 Compensation Adjustments