House committee hears House Bill 13 pay plan that would raise state salaries, health contribution and per diem

Representative John Fitzpatrick, sponsor of House Bill 13, told a House committee that the bill would enact the negotiated state pay plan and carry appropriations to fund it.

"First, it provides a salary adjustment of $1 per hour or 2.5 percent of salary, whichever is greater on both July 2025 and again in July 2026," Fitzpatrick said, adding that the 2.5 percent adjustment applies to employees earning $83,000 or more. He also described provisions to increase the state's employer share of health insurance and to tie per diem to the federal rate.

The bill's four core components, as presented by Fitzpatrick and administration witnesses, are: two salary increases (July 2025 and July 2026), an increase in the employer share of the state health plan (an additional $26 per month in each year of the biennium), a change to travel meal per diem tied to the federal per diem (set at 70 percent of the federal rate), and a phased increase…