Idaho Legislature’s budget committee approves raises for state employees
State employees would see increases between $1.05 and $1.55 per hour
After weeks of debate and negotiations, the Idaho Legislature’s budget committee approved pay increases for about 25,000 state employees Thursday.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC for short, voted 18-2 on Thursday to approve raises of between $1.05 per hour and $1.55 per hour for permanent state employees.
JFAC is a powerful legislative committee made up of 10 members each from the Idaho House and Idaho Senate that meets each day and sets the budget for every state agency and department.
Under the plan, all state agencies would receive funding to cover raises of $1.55 per hour for all full-time permanent positions. Agency directors and institution presidents would then have flexibility to use that money to distribute raises of no less than $1.05 per hour and no more than $1.55 per hour — based on merit. If agencies do not award the full $1.55 pay increases, the additional funding left over must be returned to the Idaho Legislature.
Rep. Wendy Horman, an Idaho Falls Republican who serves as co-chair of JFAC, said she supports the pay plan because it it provides a minimum increase of $1.05 per hour for all state employees while giving agency leaders flexibility to give a larger, merit-based $1.55 per hour increase to high-performing state employees.
“I believe this motion strikes a nice balance between recognizing and rewarding excellence and recognizing that everyone is experiencing inflation right now,” Horman said.
There are exceptions in the plan that give even larger targeted pay raises to specific groups of employees. Under the plan, IT and engineering state employees would receive salary increases of 4.5%. Idaho State Police troopers would receive increases not to exceed 8%. Health care and nursing state employees would receive raises of $1.55 per hour or 3%, whichever amount is greater.
According to a spokeswoman for Gov. Brad Little’s office, there are 803 IT and engineering employees who would benefit from the targeted increases. Another 32 health care and nursing employees would benefit from the targeted increase language because they would have received less than a 3% increase if they only got a boost of $1.55 per hour.
Meanwhile, Idaho legislators themselves – who are not full-time, year round employees – are receiving a much larger pay increase than state employees this year. Legislators are receiving 25% raises, with their salaries increasing from $19,913 per year to $25,000.
The Idaho Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 101 in an attempt to reject the pay increase for legislators. But the Idaho House did not take up Senate Concurrent Resolution 101, instead referring it to the House Ways and Committee to die, which would leave the 25% legislative pay raises in place.
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
