How did state workers fare in the state budget? 3% raises, but none for retirees
The two-year budget finalized late Thursday contains some good news for current state employees but fails to increase compensation for thousands of state government retirees.
Two consecutive 3% pay increases are due for state employees of all three branches of government.
Legislators, as well as statewide constitutional officers like the governor and attorney general will get pay bumps that mirror state employees’ pay bump. However, legislators’ raises are delayed until after a new legislature is elected — with many incumbents expected to return — and begins their work in January 2025.
Legislative pay bumps are often a source of controversy. However, leaders of both parties, such as outgoing GOP floor leader Damon Thayer and Democratic Rep. Josie Raymond have called for more significant pay increases to attract more middle-class Kentuckians to serve.
State government retirees, however, aren’t getting a boost in their compensation.
Jim Carroll, president of Kentucky Government Retirees, an advocacy group for retirees and active employees covered by the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority, said the choice failed to address inflation that’s occurred since the last cost-of-living adjustment given to state retirees in 2011.
“We’re deeply disappointed that the General Assembly failed to address the erosion of real income for state retirees over the past decade. A modest one-time allocation would have addressed a growing problem for retirees while stimulating local economies,” Carroll wrote in a statement.
Some relief was in an earlier version of the Senate’s budget, as well as Gov. Andy Beshear’s proposed budget in the form of a “13th check,” an extra retirement check beyond a retiree’s 12 monthly checks over the course of a year. The Senate’s version of that relief cost $75 million.
Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee Chair Chris McDaniel, R-Ryland Heights, said the 13th check was dropped “in the course of the negotiations” with the House in crafting the final version of the budget.
During the last budget cycle, nearly all state employees were given a one-time 8% salary bump.
Teacher raises are a separate question. Democrats, led by Gov. Andy Beshear, have long asked for across-the-board teacher pay raises. Republicans have insisted the state should only fund K-12 school districts, which directly employ the teachers, through the state’s per-pupil SEEK funding formula.
The per-pupil funding is $4,326 in the first fiscal year and $4,586 in the second, jumping by 3% in the first fiscal year beginning July 2024 and then 6% in the next fiscal year.
The total dollar amount increase is more modest given that Kentucky’s K-12 public enrollment is declining year-over-year.
