Joint finance committee fails to agree on statewide pay package; four CEC motions deadlocked

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee was unable Thursday to adopt any of four competing employee-compensation (CEC) motions for fiscal 2026 after extended debate over distribution methods and voting procedures.

Four distinct proposals were on the table: a dollar‑per‑hour approach that would provide $1.55 per hour per FTE and targeted supplements to specific groups; a dollar‑plus‑3% floor to guarantee a minimum 3% for all employees; a merit‑based up to 4% proposal; and the governor’s recommended 5% merit‑based increase. Committee analysts provided detailed calculations showing different distributions and total costs for each motion, but members repeatedly failed to ratify any option.

Representative Miller initially moved the $1.55 per hour proposal (Motion 1), which the analysts calculated at $84,411,000 for the statewide dollar amount and a $177,429,000 total when including community colleges, public schools and other pay adjustments. Senator Cook proposed a merit option (Motion 3) described as “either a dollar $1.55 or 4% by merit, whichever is greater,” while Senator Wintrow presented the governor’s 5% recommendation. Representative Furness later brought a substitute motion that blended a $1.55 floor with a minimum 3% step for most employees and included targeted adjustments for troopers and other groups.

Analysts explained the methodological differences. Mike Bybee said the $1.55 per hour number was derived from a statewide calculation and that motions differ in how dollars would be distributed across salary bands, institutions and fund sources. He told the committee the motions included separate line items for community colleges, classified and nonclassified IT and engineering staff, nursing and health care workers, and a public‑school allocation of $84,669,500.

Lawmakers debated philosophy as well as arithmetic. Proponents of merit argued supervisors need discretion to reward higher performance; opponents said a uniform dollar increase better supports lower‑paid employees and helps with inflation. Senator Cook argued for merit and warned against a “participation‑trophy” approach that, she said, treats all employees the same regardless of performance. Representative Handy and others noted problems with relying solely on merit ratings in practice.

Voting procedures became a parallel point of contention. Committee clerks located a letter from 2023 that leadership had circulated establishing a joint voting procedure. Representative Furness read the letter into the record, saying it “states this: House and Senate majority leadership have determined to utilize the joint voting procedure used in the past while also announcing the votes of House and Senate committees separately… The next vote will take 6 votes to pass.” Several members disputed whether the letter required a majority of members present from each body or majority of the committee as a whole; leadership maintained the letter was controlling for today’s procedures.

The motions were put to several roll calls across two extended floor sessions. On multiple attempts, substitutes and original motions failed to obtain the necessary majorities in either the House or the Senate component of the joint committee; clerks subsequently declared the motions failed and the committee recessed the issue for further work. Committee leadership said they will revisit the proposals and the voting procedure with caucus leaders and return with clarified motions at a later date.

Votes at a glance - Motion 1 (Representative Miller): $1.55 per hour per FTE; total (including schools and other adjustments) cited as $177,429,000. Outcome: failed to pass. - Motion 2 / Substitute variants (Representative Furness): $1.55 with a 3% minimum and targeted adjustments; total cited as $178,040,500. Outcome: failed to pass. - Motion 3 (Senator Cook): Merit‑based up to 4% or $1.55 whichever greater; total cited as $180,312,100 (as presented in one motion text). Outcome: failed to pass / failed to achieve required House majority on a recorded roll call. - Motion 4 (Governor’s recommendation, Senator Wintrow reading): 5% merit‑based; totals cited approximately $180,653,800. Outcome: failed to pass.

The committee adjourned the CEC discussion without a final recommendation and asked staff to rework calculations and clarify motions before the next scheduled meeting.