Legislators approve $1.55 hourly minimum and targeted raises in CEC package

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a compensation package that provides $1.55 per hour per full-time equivalent position for state agencies and institutions for fiscal year 2026, plus targeted adjustments for specific employee groups. Representative Miller, who moved the main motion, read the package and said it includes community college funding, salary-schedule shifts and additional increases for IT, troopers and health-care workers.

The package, as described by Keith Bybee, Division Manager, Budget Policy Analysis, covers $84,411,100 for the $1.55-per-hour adjustment to state agencies and institutions and totals $177,429,100 across general, dedicated and federal funds. It includes $2,305,700 for community colleges (funded as an estimated 5%), $6,042,800 for salary-schedule adjustments at the minimum of pay grades, a 4.5% adjustment for classified and nonclassified IT and engineering workers, funding that allows Idaho State Police troopers to receive up…