Senator proposes freezing exempt pay raises to fund emergency housing coordinator

On Feb. 21 a senator introduced an amendment proposing to freeze scheduled FY25 and FY26 pay increases for exempt state employees whose pay exceeds $100,000 and to reassign one existing, budgeted position to coordinate statewide homelessness services.

The sponsor described the measure as a source of funding for emergency housing assistance and the conversion of state buildings into additional shelter capacity. “This amendment…would freeze pay for those individuals, at the fiscal year 24 rate, and that savings is to be invested in general house emergency housing assistance and conversion of state buildings into larger capacity,” the sponsor said.

Nut graf: The amendment would not create a new permanent position but would direct a currently budgeted position in the state position pool to serve as a limited‑service coordinator for homelessness, while attempting to free modest near‑term funds and larger FY26 funds for emergency housing work.

The presenter told the committee the projected savings in the remainder of FY25 are modest (the transcript's numeric description of the FY25 amount is garbled and not fully clear) and that the FY26 savings were “over $6,000,000.” She said the reassigned position would not cost the state additional money because the position is already budgeted in the pool and would be assigned as a limited‑service exempt position, likely placed in the Agency of Human Services.

Committee members asked about jurisdictional fit and whether the welfare or government operations committees would take the lead; the presenter said the welfare committee would likely handle program-level coordination while government operations or appropriations would consider pay‑act changes. The sponsor said language was still in drafting and offered to work with committee staff on precise statutory text.

The amendment also targets the biennial pay act process: the sponsor explained that recent pay increases had granted exempt executives a roughly 6.4% increase previously and a planned 5.2% increase for FY26; the amendment would pause those increases for impacted high‑paid exempt employees pending further action. The sponsor said the named positions in the pay act would still appear but that the freeze would affect exempt employees as described.

(Ending) The committee did not vote on the amendment during the hearing. Members asked for draft language and for the sponsor to consult with welfare, government operations, and legislative human resources offices to resolve implementation timing and pay-administration questions.