Blunt to propose 4 percent pay raise for state workers

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Matt Blunt plans to propose a 4 percent pay hike for most state employees to take effect later this year.

The governor told the News Tribune here that the budget plan he will unveil Wednesday night in his State of the State address includes $93.6 million to increase wages of state workers.

"Compensation has not kept up with the cost of living," Blunt said of state employee paychecks. "We've asked them to work with us to be more efficient, to be more responsible stewards of tax resources. We've asked them to do more with less and they've responded to that challenge. And I think Missourians can take great pride in their state employees."

The plan includes a 4 percent across-the-board raise for state government workers, excluding elected officials and judges. Nearly 7,000 of the employees would get additional increases aimed at specific positions with recruitment and retention difficulties based on the pay.

Blunt is proposing about 1,000 nurses get an additional 8 percent raise on top of the 4 percent hike. And he says about 5,900 corrections officers and law enforcement officers in the Water Patrol, Capitol Police and Liquor Control divisions, as well as fire inspectors and park rangers, should receive an extra 4 percent raise.

"We need to provide a compensation that is commensurate with the rest of the economy," Blunt said.

Last year, Blunt proposed a 1 percent across-the-board increase for all state employees, but that plan was trimmed from the final budget that lawmakers approved in May. The governor said the raise wasn't a lot but could have helped with cost-of-living increases.

Blunt said more than half of the increased salary and benefits -- $50 million -- would come from general revenue funds. The rest would come from federal and other funding sources.

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Information from: Daily Capital News, http://www.newstribune.com