MoDOT the only state agency to pay employees bonuses
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MoDOT the only state agency to pay employees bonuses

Date: September 28, 2009
By: Theo Keith
State Capitol Bureau
Links: Find out who's getting a bonus (St. Louis Post-Dispatch database)

Intro:  MoDOT is handing out bonuses to employees, but it's the only state agency to do so. Theo Keith has more from Jefferson City.
RunTime:  0:39
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: Supervisors, lawyers, maintenence workers, and technicians are all on the list of more than 1,000 MoDOT employees getting bonuses this year.

Many are getting $1,000 or more.

To get the money, two levels of supervisors have to say an employee is excellent.

There's no appeals process, so the word of the supervisors is it.

But MoDOT Director Pete Rahn says there's only one way to get a bonus.

Actuality:  RAHN2.WAV
Run Time:  00:04
Description: "You work very hard. I mean, you must be a peak performer."

While Rahn says his program is a success, none of the state's other departments have a bonus system like it.

From the State Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

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Intro:  One Republican lawmaker asks how MoDOT gives out more than a million-and-a-half dollars in bonuses. Theo Keith has more from Jefferson City.
RunTime:  0:44
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: MoDOT is giving more than 1,000 of its employees performance-based bonuses this year.

Missouri's other state workers have seen their pay frozen.

MoDOT is funded through sources like the gas tax, meaning it controls its own money.

But St. Louis County Republican Representative Allen Icet says that's no reason why the legislature can't ask for the criteria to get a bonus.

Actuality:  ICET7.WAV
Run Time:  00:10
Description: "I think that it would be something the legislature could and should ask for and I would certainly hope the highway commission would work with us and supply the information."

Icet says he supports the idea of performance-based pay - with tough criteria - because it rewards hard work.

From the State Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

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Intro:  MoDOT is the only state agency to award bonuses to its employees. Theo Keith has more from Jefferson City.
RunTime:  0:43
OutCue:  SOC

Wrap: At a time when nearly all state employees have had their pay frozen, the state Transportation Department is giving out extra money to more than 1,000 of its workers.

It adds up to more than a million-and-a-half dollars.

Some of the workers are bureaucrats.

A few make more than $100,000 a year.

But MoDOT Director Pete Rahn defended the pay, saying it gives people an incentive to work harder.

Actuality:  RAHN6.WAV
Run Time:  00:10
Description: "Why should I work any harder than so-and-so, when they don't work very hard and I get paid the same as they do? That's a really good question."

Rahn says the performance-based pay should be a model for other state agencies.

From the State Capitol, I'm Theo Keith, Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

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