Change in Employee Compensation Committee approves salary and benefit recommendations, sends package to JFAC

Change in Employee Compensation Committee Chairman Foreman said the committee approved a bundle of statewide and targeted pay recommendations on motions forwarded to the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee (JFAC), including a $1.55-per-hour-per-FTP baseline adjustment and separate market or percent-based boosts for troopers, nurses and IT staff.

The committee’s recommendations matter because they set policy direction the JFAC will use when deciding whether and how to fund pay and benefit changes. Committee members debated how a $1.55-per-hour-per-FTP baseline interacts with prior proposals framed as percentage increases and requested fiscal estimates before final votes.

Representative Raybould moved the committee’s initial, broad recommendation: for fiscal year 2026 fund a salary increase equal to $1.55 per hour per full-time position (per FTP) for state employees, a motion seconded by Senator Cook and carried by a roll call vote (8–3). Chairman Foreman was among the three recorded nays. Several members questioned where that dollar figure intersected with earlier percentage-focused proposals and what salary levels would see the largest percentage gains under the dollar approach.

The committee approved a separate, targeted recommendation for Idaho State Police troopers. Senator Ward Engelking moved that trooper pay be funded to meet but not exceed 8% total for FY2026, with agency flexibility to allocate funds for retention and…