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Constitutional subcommittee reports reserves boost, employee pay‑band changes and new permitting timeline for environmental permits
Summary
The constitutional and statewide subcommittee recommended increases to general and capital reserves, created four employee pay bands with $66 million to implement minimums, and proposed $14.5 million to speed environmental permitting with a 90‑day target for decisions.
Representative Murphy, presenting the constitutional and statewide subcommittee report, said the committee increased the general reserve fund by more than $99,000,000 to about $839,000,000 and added $17,500,000 to the Capital Reserve Fund to bring total reserves to about $1.2 billion, complying with a 2022 constitutional amendment the presenter cited.
The subcommittee recommended $89,000,000 toward the state health plan (below full funding this year), noting the partial funding will require a $36.76 monthly increase per employee on average. The presenter said state retirees will not see an increase in their state health insurance premiums this year.
Employee compensation: the Department of Administration’s compensation study recommended moving from a single pay band to four distinct pay bands: general employees, law enforcement, clinical employees and technology positions. The subcommittee appropriated $66,000,000 to implement the classification system and raise lower‑paid employees to new minimums; the presenter said employees at the low end could receive average increases of about 17.27 percent, while others receive a 2 percent raise if not brought to the new minimum.
Permitting and environmental services: the subcommittee put $14,500,000 toward Department of Environmental Services staffing and operations with an included proviso that requires the department to issue permit decisions within 90 days. The presenter said the department’s director is confident the increased funding will enable meeting the 90‑day timeline; members asked whether septic permits would be included and were told septic permitting is included.
Disaster recovery and judiciary investments: the presenter cited over $222,000,000 in nonrecurring funds allocated to declared disasters (including recent storms and floods) to increase federal matching capacity, $25,000,000 for a new circuit court case‑management system and three new family‑court judgeships for counties with high dockets (Berkeley, Lexington and Beaufort).
Why it matters: the pay‑band change and implementation funding materially alter state employee compensation structure; the permitting proviso aims to shorten permit timelines that agencies and businesses have said can take 12–18 months. The allocations for disaster matches were framed as intended to increase federal reimbursements when the state provides matching dollars.
The items were presented as subcommittee recommendations pending final appropriation language on the floor.
