State workers will get at least an extra dollar an hour raise when the new fiscal year begins in July.
The move comes after weeks of deadlock in the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee where lawmakers couldn’t reach a compromise.
All state employees would earn at least $1.05 more per hour under the plan while also leaving room for employers to raise that to an extra $1.55 an hour based on merit.
“I do believe this motion strikes a nice balance between recognizing and rewarding excellence and recognizing that everyone is experiencing inflation right now,” said Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Idaho Falls), a JFAC co-chair.
The deal reached Thursday follows half a dozen failed proposals since mid-January. The heart of the issue came down to a difference in philosophy that didn’t fall along traditional political lines.
House lawmakers largely advocated for a $1.55 per hour, across-the-board raise as a way to give relief to state employees weathering recent periods of high inflation.
That would’ve equated a 5% or higher raise for workers earning less than $64,000 annually.
Meanwhile, state senators on JFAC, including both Democrats, pushed for raises to be a percentage-based merit raise, which would more greatly benefit higher-paid workers.
Sen. Kevin Cook (R-Idaho Falls) said he still supports that philosophy, but chose to take the compromise deal Thursday to put the issue to rest.
“We’re guaranteeing a $1.05 raise for everyone regardless of what they do, regardless of if they show up to the job and we’re tying our directors’ and our managers’ hands,” Cook said.
IT and engineering staff will receive an extra 4.5% pay bump, while nursing and health care workers will get another $1.55 or 3% raise, whichever is greater, on top of the statewide pay hike. That’s in an effort to retain workers in those sectors.
The raises will now be included in each agency budget that needs approval from the House, Senate and the governor before they could take effect later this summer.
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