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JFAC approves $177.4 million pay package, sets $1.55-per-hour minimum for state employees
Summary
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved a FY2026 pay package that provides a minimum $1.55-an-hour increase for state employees, additional targeted increases for troopers, IT/engineering and nursing staff, and funding for public schools and community colleges; the motion passed the committee after debate and a roll-call vote.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to approve a FY2026 compensation package that directs at least $1.55 per hour in pay increases for state agency and institution employees and includes targeted schedule adjustments for specific employee groups.
The motion, moved by Representative Miller and seconded in committee, passed with a committee-wide recommendation to carry the language forward after a roll-call tally that produced 18 ayes and 2 nays. Committee staff said the package represents $177,429,100 in total adjustments across general, dedicated and federal funds.
The motion funds a $1.55-per-hour increase per full-time equivalent position for permanent employees of state agencies and institutions, includes $2,305,700 allocated for community colleges, and provides schedule adjustments and targeted increases: 4.5% for information-technology and engineering positions, up to an 8% total increase for Idaho State Police troopers, and a $1.55-per-hour or 3% increase for nursing and health-care workers, whichever is greater. The package also includes $84,669,500 for public schools and the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind. Committee staff put the breakdown at $128,354,900 from the general fund, $34,266,900 from dedicated funds and $14,807,300 from federal funds for a $177,429,100 total.
Why it matters: The pay motion implements a baseline raise intended to address inflationary pressures and recruitment and retention problems while preserving the ability to add targeted market adjustments for specific job classes. Committee members debated whether the package adequately addresses pay compression and senior employees earning above roughly $64,000 a year.
Discussion and key positions
Representative Miller, who introduced the motion, said it raises the previous $1.00-per-hour minimum to $1.55 and packages additional, targeted adjustments. “I move fiscal year 2026 to provide $84,411,100 for a dollar 55 per hour per employee for permanent employees of state agencies and institutions,” Miller said when offering the motion, reciting the motion’s provisions.
Senator Ward Engelking opposed the motion, saying it did not address compensation compression at higher pay levels and that the state risks future retention problems. “I won’t be able to support the motion,” Engelking said, adding that the committee should commit to further work next year to address higher-pay ranges.
Senator Melissa Wintrow echoed Engelking’s concern, saying the committee statute requires competitive salary packages and that she did not believe the motion met that standard. “It is clear that we shall provide a competitive salary package and I just don't think we're doing that,” she said.
Several members said they would support the compromise. Senator Cook said she would back the motion despite reservations because it delivers a minimum increase for all workers, and Senator Woodward and others said the package balanced minimum cost-of-living recognition with merit opportunities above the floor. “This motion strikes a balance between the needs of cost of living increases with a minimum dollar 5 and the opportunity toward those who are higher performers up to a dollar 55,” the committee chair said in explaining her support.
Implementation and reporting
Committee staff described language attached to the motion that: (1) directs agencies to provide increases between $1.05 and $1.55 per hour except where specific paragraphs provide otherwise; (2) prohibits agencies from transferring new funding away from personnel costs to other categories; (3) requires reporting to the legislature if agencies use existing salary savings to provide increases above $1.55 per hour; and (4) directs the Division of Human Resources and the Office of the State Comptroller to produce a monthly report identifying pay changes so the legislature and the Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) committee can monitor implementation.
The motion also funds increases to shift four salary schedules upward by no less than $1.55 per hour (general, IT/engineering, public safety, and nursing/healthcare) and supplies additional funding to cover minimum pay increases and scheduled adjustments at the bottom of pay ranges.
Vote and next steps
The committee logged a roll-call recommendation to carry the motion to the floor. Committee staff said the approved language will be added to the maintenance budgets and appear in the package when it is filed on the floor. Staff also were asked to compile subsequent, individual requests for salary boosts that departments are submitting outside the CEC package so the committee can review cumulative impacts.
Provenance (transcript evidence)
The committee’s discussion and the motion begin with the staff presentation introducing the statewide CEC decision (transcript segment starting at 585.83) and conclude with unanimous-consent language to include the final text in the maintenance bills (transcript segment ending at 1753.67).
