A proposed pay increase for state employees is headed to the Missouri House floor, but only after a committee reduced the number who would benefit from a proposed $15 an hour minimum wage.
Gov. Mike Parson’s supplemental budget recommendation included a $15 minimum wage for all state workers and 5.5 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA), though the version before the committee earmarked the $15 minimum only for direct care workers and agencies, including the departments of Social Services, Health and Senior Services and Mental Health. Those working in state hospitals, veterans homes and the Children’s Division would be covered under the language.
The remainder of the state workforce would have a $12 an hour minimum wage under the latest version, in line with where the statewide minimum wage will settle next year after incrementally increasing every year since 2017.
Workers would get the 5.5 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) or their respective minimum wage, whichever is greater.
The committee voted 22-8 to move the bill forward as amended after several hours of debate Monday afternoon.
Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage, sponsor of HB 3014 and chairman of the committee, said his version would prevent the state from having an “unfair advantage” over the private sector.
“It’s a penny smart and a pound foolish not to pay people what they need to make or what they may be able to make elsewhere, I just think there are scenarios in state government where we would be creating an unfair advantage for the state over private employers if we take everyone to a level higher than the statewide minimum wage,” Smith said. “I do think departments should be able to be responsive to the need as it comes to them in a case-by-case scenario.”
Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, was Smith’s main critic throughout the hearing. The ranking minority member of the committee argued this version of the plan would provide a raise to those above the threshold while minimizing the financial impact on the state employees who most needed a boost.
“The people at the bottom of the pay scale are getting the least increase in the budget, and most of this money is going to the top of the pay scale,” Merideth said. “As the departments testified to us over and over again, that’s where they’re having the hardest time hiring. We’re missing the boat of why this raise was requested, and where the market has shifted the most is the bottom of the pay scale.”
Several other Democrats sitting on the committee voiced their own opposition to the change, pointing to high turnover rates and a rising cost of living. Few Republicans sounded off on the issue, though Rep. Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knobb, voiced his support for the change of plan and encouraged the state departments to conduct a study of what wages would actually combat the turnover rate.
Smith said he believed the minimal increase would let departments run through their allowances by the end of the fiscal year, with future conversations likely to follow in future budgets.
Around 20 percent of state employees make less than $15 an hour, according to the Office of Administration (OA).
The bill includes funding for other arms of state government, including appropriations for the state’s Medicaid division and telehealth services.
Local lawmakers have been vocal proponents of the governor’s proposal. Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, joined his fellow Jefferson City legislators on a letter to House members encouraging them to pass the proposal ahead of session. Griffith, who has touted state employee pay as a priority of his time in the statehouse and chairs the House Veterans Committee, said the bill was a step forward for health care workers and those working in Missouri’s veterans homes.
“It’s good news for veterans homes that are trying to compete in an unfair market,” Griffith said. “They can’t offer incentives like some of the private nursing homes can, so we’ll see what happens with it on the floor.”
Griffith is also championing a bill that would allow state employees to be paid biweekly instead of on a set date twice a month. That bill has also made it through the committee.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe presented his office’s budget requests to the committee earlier in the hearing, throwing his own weight behind a wage increase.
“When you live in this area and you get behind a state employee in the grocery store, and they use a food stamp card, you understand that we need to figure something out there,” Kehoe said. “(I’m a) small-business guy, I hate taxes, I hate throwing money at things just to solve problems, but our state employees need to have an adjustment.”
The governor’s recommended increases would cost $91 million, with $52 million set to come from general revenue. Smith’s version would reduce the plan by around 7.5 percent, according to committee members.
The bill is expected to reach the House floor for perfection today. Parson originally sought to have the bill signed by the beginning of February, though the bill’s only movement had been a public hearing last month.
A spokeswoman for Parson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vacancies remain high as well for positions across the executive branch: Parson said vacancy rates are 30-100 percent for certain positions and called on the Legislature to enact his recommendations to attract more candidates for state work. There are around 500 vacancies across state government in Jefferson City alone, according to the state’s hiring site.
Around 14,000 state employees live in the Jefferson City area, according to statistics from the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce.