By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A legislative panel that oversees state agencies adopted a proposal today by state Sen. Gilbert Baker, R-Conway, to study gender-based disparities in government employees’ pay and consider taking legislative action to address the issue.

Baker, who recently announced as a candidate for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., next year, told the House and Senate Committees on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs he proposed the study after discussions with a former neighbor who is a state employee making less than male employees in the same position.

The neighbor, Kim Kelley, is a chamber clerk for Judge Karen Baker of the state Court of Appeals. She is also a single mother of three.

“I think it’s timely that we discuss this because of the economic situation that we’re facing right now generally, but specifically for those that might be in a single-parent situation,” Baker said. “I just want to make sure that we’re not in any way complacent relating to possible gender disparity.”

Kelley, formerly of Conway but now a Heber Springs resident, testified that her annual salary is $56,287, but the highest-paid male chamber clerks at the Court of Appeals make $75,245.

Among the court’s administrative assistants, pay appears to differ according to the gender and race of the judge, according to Kelley. She said two assistants to white male judges have annual salaries of $48,221, while an assistant to a black male judge makes $41,906 and an assistant to a female judge makes $35,726.

All four assistants are female and have the same number of years of experience with the court, Kelley said.

The Court of Appeals judges hire their assistants, but resources are allocated at the Supreme Court level, Kelley said. Some judges have expressed concerns that resources are being allocated with the intention of marginalizing them by limiting the amount they can pay their assistants, she said.

Kelley said Judge Baker has been concerned about the disparities, and in March 2007 the judge proposed a plan for equalizing pay.

“However, that’s not what happened,” Kelley said. “What happened was, there was an across-the-board increase by percentage. Even our basic math skills tell us that if we already have a disparity of so much and we increase by a percentage, it increases the disparity — which is exactly what happened.”

Rep. Jim Nickels, D-Sherwood, said it sounded as if the state’s judicial system could be vulnerable to a sexual discrimination lawsuit.

“I think this body has a role to play in seeing that we do not increase the liability of the state of Arkansas,” he said.

Rep. Rick Saunders, D-Hot Springs, the panel’s House chairman, asked Gilbert Baker if he wanted to limit the study to the Court of Appeals.

“This is kind of a launching pad for that, but the concern should be about disparity across the board,” Baker said.

The panel adopted a motion by its Senate chairman, Steve Faris, D-Malvern, to conduct the study while also referring the issue to a state task force on judicial compensation and the Personnel Subcommittee of the Legislative Council.

“This issue is something that I think needs to be brought to the broader spectrum among legislators,” Faris said.