JFAC approves $177.4 million employee compensation package including $1.55 hourly minimum increase

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to approve a compensation package that provides at least $1.55 per hour per full-time equivalent position for state agency and institution employees and includes targeted adjustments for specific salary schedules.

The motion, offered on the committee floor by Representative Miller, directs pay increases between $1.05 and $1.55 per hour for employees except where specific exceptions apply, and includes additional targeted funding: a 4.5% increase for classified and nonclassified IT and engineering workers, up to an 8% total increase for Idaho State Police troopers, and funding for nursing and health-care employees equal to $1.55 per hour or 3%, whichever is greater. The package also includes funding for community colleges (calculated at a 5% equivalent) and $84,669,500 for public schools and the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind.

Why it matters: The package is a state-level change to ongoing salary schedules and will be incorporated into the maintenance budgets that the committee has already approved. It affects tens of thousands of state employees, public-school funding and several mission-critical salary groups (IT, public safety and healthcare), and it imposes new reporting requirements on agencies and the Division of Human Resources.

Key provisions and funding…