House Appropriations Committee Pay Raise Proposal

While the Senate has concluded its initial work on the state budget, the House has been working on its version of the appropriations bill and will substitute it into SB 1 when it arrives from the Senate. The House version of the budget uses virtually all available new funds to increase public education funding under HB 2, the public education financing bill. The House version of the budget includes a state employee pay raise proposal, as well as pay raises for state law enforcement, judges and others, all of which are included in Article XI of the budget, which is the “wish list” portion of the bill (this means it is not yet funded).

The House version of the pay raise would grant a one-time raise of 3 percent, with a $100 a month minimum increase, beginning September 1, 2005. In addition, it proposes to increase longevity and hazardous duty pay in the same way as the Senate proposal, to $20 a month for every two years of state service for longevity, and $10 a month in hazardous duty pay for each year of state service. TPEA believes it is especially important that the legislature fund meaningful pay raises in both years of the 2006-2007 biennium.

The House pay raise proposal does not meet the funding level nor the structure recommended by TPEA to maximize its impact on lowering employee turnover, increasing workforce stability and improving employee morale. To best achieve these goals TPEA supports annual pay raises in both years of the 2006-2007 biennium, structuring raises to be equitable for all employees by having a percentage pay increase with an appropriate monthly minimum pay raise, and by increasing longevity and hazardous duty pay to reward longer-term employees. The overall difference in cost between the Senate and House pay raise proposals is around $100 million in General Revenue. However, TPEA does not believe the House proposal will effectively address excessive employee turnover, nor will help to stabilize the state workforce or improve morale.

Procedurally, the House will insert its version of the budget into SB 1 after it arrives in the House from the Senate. After approval by the full House, the Senate will move not to concur with House changes to SB 1, and a conference committee will appointed to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of SB 1. The conference committee will consist of 5 Senators and 5 Representatives. State employee pay will be one of the major issues to be decided by the SB 1 conference committee. TPEA will work with the conference committee to achieve a pay raise that is adequately funded and structured to provide an across-the-board raise in both years of the coming biennium.