Raises and other recommendations included in proposed budget from Gov. Lee

TSEA February 10, 2021 Comments Off on Raises and other recommendations included in proposed budget from Gov. Lee
Raises and other recommendations included in proposed budget from Gov. Lee

Governor Lee during his Feb. 8, 2021 State of the State address recommended a 4-percent raise for State Employees.

“I said at the start how proud I am of my staff and cabinet, and I am just as proud of all of our fellow co-workers, the best state employees in all of America,” Gov. Bill Lee said during his speech. “As with teachers, my budget recommends a 4 percent raise for state employees as well.”

We appreciate Gov. Lee for supporting and valuing state employees.


After reviewing the budget, and speaking to some members of the Governor’s administration, here are some additional details included in Gov. Lee’s proposed budget:

Pay-for-performance raises for State Employees under the TEAM ActBased on language in the budget, and the presentation from Commissioner Butch Eley to the Senate Finance Committee, the budget includes a 2 percent performance raise retroactive to January. In addition, the budget funds a 2 percent performance raise for FY22.

Salary pool for Non-TEAM Act AgenciesSalary increases for state employees not covered by the Tennessee Excellence, Accountability, and Management (TEAM) Act will be funded with an appropriation of $14.5 million.

These raises appear to be funded similarly to TEAM Act employees (2 percent retroactive to January 2021 and 2 percent in FY22). The actual amount of increase each employee receives will be decided by the appointing authorities of those agencies.

Market AdjustmentWe do not know the specifics for the market adjustments, but the budget allocates $40M of recurring funding for salary market adjustments for state employees effective July 1, 2021. As we learn more details about the market adjustment plans, we will provide that information.


We will continue to study the Governor’s proposed budget for additional funding details. 

Now the critical work of navigating the legislative committee system begins. TSEA is in contact with your legislators daily, and we will keep you up to date in our weekly legislative updates about the progress of raises, salary adjustments, market adjustments, as well as other important legislation. 

Thank you for being a member of TSEA and for all you do for Tennessee.