By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Missouri House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a 3% pay raise for state employees.
The House had wanted a flat raise of $1,056, which would have given lower-earning state workers a larger pay hike than upper-echelon employees.
But the Senate and Governor Matt Blunt pushed for the percentage raise and got it.
Senate Budget Chairman Gary Nodler (R, Joplin) says a 3% raise will keep the best and brightest from seeking employment elsewhere.
"You want to be able to reward excellence and achievement, and clearly when you ask more of an individual with greater degrees of responsibility, they need a greater amount of compensation," Nodler said.
House Budget Chairman Allen Icet (R, Wildwood) says a compromise was offered by State Senator Joan Bray (D, St. Louis), in which both a flat raise and a percentage raise would have been given. But it wasn't adopted.
"Given that we have to finish the budget by the end of next week, there's just not enough time to go through and try to analyze and decide how much, (and) who gets what," Icet said.
Icet added, though, that lawmakers may consider giving both types of raises next year.
The budget item does not include state university employees, whose raises are handled separately from other state workers.