Governor Haslam yesterday released his Fiscal Year 2017-2018 budget proposal which according to a news release from the governor’s office includes, “$77 million* for state employee pay increases and market rate adjustments targeting high-turnover positions in state government.” The proposed budget also includes $42M for raises in Higher Education.
Raises included in the FY2017-2018 budget proposal are broken down in the budget as follows:
- 3% Salary Pool – Pay for Performance – TEAM Act Agencies (effective 1/2018) – $38.7M
- 1% Salary Pool – Pay for Performance – TEAM Act Agencies (effective 1/2018) – $6.4M
- 3% salary pool – Across the board – Non-TEAM Act agencies (effective 7/1/2017) – $8.3M
- Market Rate Adjustment – $23.5M
For Higher Education** (Allocated through funding formula)
- 3% Salary Pool – Formula Units – $30.1M
- 3% Salary Pool – Non-Formula Units – $11.9M
“TSEA thanks the Haslam administration, all of our state legislators, Commissioner Rebecca Hunter, and the Department of Human Resources who have all listened to our calls to consistently make state employee pay a priority in the budget,” TSEA Executive Director Randy Stamps said. “However, while we are excited the Governor’s proposed budget includes $77M for salary improvements, we remain concerned that the Administration is reacting to high turnover rates in some departments and not taking a more reasoned approached to retaining and rewarding our experienced state employees. While the corporate mentality of reduced benefits for newer employees may tempt the Governor to save a few dollars, this is a dangerous policy because as experienced employees are shown the door, invaluable expertise also walks out the door.”
TSEA will continue to gather information about the proposed budget and will share with you any new information we learn.
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*For comparison, the FY 2016-2017 budget proposal included $96.1M for state employee pay increases and market rate adjustments.
**Last year Higher Education raise amounts were not included in the proposed budget. TSEA during the summer and fall brought this omission to the attention of the administration as well as the leadership at the Higher Education institutions across Tennessee. We are pleased to see these numbers back in the budget this year.
