Basnight to support open salary records

Senate leader Marc Basnight will push for making the salary histories of all state and local employees public when lawmakers go into session next month, a spokesman says.

"I can confidently say that he would be very persuasive in expressing to his colleagues that people paid with taxpayer dollars, their salary history should be publicly available," Basnight spokesman Schorr Johnson said.

Changes to the state personnel law from Senate Democrats might go further. State Sen. Doug Berger, a Franklin County Democrat, said employment histories should also be public. He is one of three senators Basnight asked to look into the state's personnel law in response to a News & Observer series, "Keeping Secrets," that reported that the law is among the most secretive in the nation.

North Carolina appears to be the only state that keeps salary and employment histories of public employees secret. Berger, like other legislative leaders, said it doesn't make sense that information that was once public doesn't remain public.

Johnson said Basnight was still considering whether the personnel law needs to be changed to open information about employment histories, disciplinary actions and hiring.

Berger said that he wants to tackle the problem of school teachers disciplined for sexual misbehavior who quietly move from district to district, but he isn't sure he wants to make that information public.

Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, has said he will seek to introduce legislation that makes public the salary and employment histories, records explaining disciplinary actions and hiring information such as reference letters from state officials.

News & Observer 215 S. McDowell St. Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601, USA daily updates Saturday April 17, 2010.