Many teachers are dedicated to their profession, but can have a difficult time purchasing a home, paying student loans, and providing for their families. The celebration over a historic 5.3% across-the-board pay raise for state employees and a new $15 minimum wage for state workers was partly overshadowed Friday morning by the vetoes of $1 million earmarked to the Second . It would take a pay increase of about $13,500/year or 45.8% to bring the buying power of the median state employee salary back to its 1987 level. This is a budget that will serve our state for generations to come, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, said in a statement. Nursing homes got more than $200 million that must be spent on raising staff wages to $15 per hour. Districts lose dollars because of masks: GOP lawmaker aims to strip state funding from school districts that defied Gov. 4 0 obj This situation is getting even more difficult for teachers across the nation with rising inflation. People who work for the state currently can enroll in a preferred provider organization policy, PPO, or a health maintenance organization plan, HMO. Overall, the cost of health insurance in Florida is comparable to the rest of the country. Ron DeSantis will have the ultimate say over how much the state spends in the 2022-23 fiscal year. ", More on DeSantis' budget: DeSantis budget includes raise for state workers, new emergency operations center, More on state minimum wage: Florida lawmakers consider banning cities, counties from setting local minimum wages. Correctional & Probation Officer pay increases are as follows:. No state workers will make less than $15 per hour. DeSantis' veto list, Thats kind of crushing. The mentorship program by the nonprofitOmega Lamplightersworks with boys in grades 4-12 to decrease gang related activity. The Senates proposal excluded current Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat and candidate for governor, from having access to the funds. Lawmakers cut the bulk of a $309 million fund for hospitals that serve the states poorest and sickest Medicaid patients. The state has also set aside money to provide for up to $5,000 signing bonuses for new or out-of-state law enforcement officers who join policing agencies in Florida. The 5.3% pay raise and $15 minimum wage starting July 1 will boost the area's payroll by at least an additional $40 million annually. But we also need to get at the root, which are the high costs that make health care so expensive for everyone. And other hospitals including Jackson will continue to benefit from a program begun in 2021 that brought more than $1 billion in new federal funding during its first year. Nat Bender on Monday, June 6 2022 - 12:03pm. Please see the attached memorandum regarding the 2022-2023 Salary Increase and Minimum Wage Pay Adjustment for In-Unit & Out-of-Unit Staff. DeSantis unveils 'Freedom First' budget for 'free state', Gov. In allocating the pay increases to career service employees, the Governors budget requires the agencies to take into consideration the length of time employees have been on the job. 3 0 obj DeSantis budget also allocates $75.4 million to increase the base rate of more than 4,500 sworn law enforcement officers, $124.2 million to increase the base rate pay for correctional probation officers and inspectors who work for the Department of Corrections, and another $15.9 million to the department to implement an employee retention plan. Questions? DeSantis, Cabinet members and other state leaders also were helped by budget-writers Tuesday, who agreed to spend $31.3 million to buy two Embraer Phenom 300E executive jets, each with an 11-seat capacity, under legislation awaiting final approval. Important Notes: Despite failing to meet a late Tuesday deadline to finalize a 2022-23 state budget, House and Senate negotiators did manage to approve a 5.38% pay raise for all state employees, along. University employees have been left out of recent statewide pay raises. And teachers, bus drivers, workers at state-contracted nursing homes and Medicaid contractors will all see their pay start at $15 per hour. But not many state employees enroll in high deductible plans. So was $12 million (from interest incurred from federal funds) to transport undocumented immigrants out of the state, and $10 million to reactivate the Florida State Guard to supplement the states National Guard. In 2010, Floridians spent 10% of their median income on health insurance premiums and deductibles. This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office. How distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine exposes inequities in Floridas health care system. Ron DeSantis signed Thursday, What was cut from Florida's budget? WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7 | The money will be used to regrade five acreswetland to prevent debris from flowing into Fred George Sink on to Wakulla Springs. The Florida Senate on Friday announced a plan to raise the minimum wage for state employees to $15 an hour, an initiative led by Senate President Wilton Simpson, who also wants to hike pay for school bus drivers and other school vendors. Employees of the Florida Department of Management Services are granted the same holiday schedule as all state of . . Instead, a proposal that looked close to being accepted by the two sides would put the $200 million into a school recognition program that wouldreward faculty and staff in "highly productive" schools that excelled even amid the challenges of the pandemic. A $13 minimum wage generates $27,144 annual salary, just above what the federal government considers a poverty income for a family of four, $26,500. STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTERS-STATE HOSPITALS. House budget chair Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, and his Senate counterpart, Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, agreed to the pay raise before getting bogged down amida host of big ticket items still unsettled across a proposed budget topping $100 billion for only the second time in state history. Statutes, Video Broadcast [1] Local revenues include required and discretionary local effort for the public schools and tuition and fees for workforce, colleges, and universities. DeSantis currently uses a $15.5 million Cessna Citation Latitude jet, bought in 2019 after he took office, succeeding former Gov. Apparently, we have been paying tax on his HIS since he retired and was added to my State Retiree Medical Plan several years ago. DeSantis had called for pouring about $355 million into construction, home-buying and rent relief efforts. Brandes, now chair of the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee, wants to steer more state employees into high deductible health plans. House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, fought for initiatives aimed at strengthening fatherhood in Florida. We have invested more than $2 billion in teacher pay, and with rising inflation, this could not come at a better time. The two things that get vetoesare food and jobs, said Jeff Sharkey of the Capitol Alliance Group, Leon Countys lobbyist at the state capitol. In another dramatic move, lawmakers dropped aHouse-backed $200 million redistribution of funds from 12 counties that defied Gov. The legislature must increase pay to in order to retain a qualified workforce. The budget also includes various state tax suspensions, which the governor and others have said are needed to help combat economic inflation. According to the Division of State Group Insurance in the Department of Management Services, the annual family premium for the state group health insurance plan was $21,973, as of July 1. Questions? Local lawmakers, lobbyistsand labor leaders said the $109 billion state budget Gov. The spending targets a host of practical problems, lawmakers say, including inflation. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. In fact, 71% of those who quit the state in 2018 said they were going to a higher paying job, with 30% saying they would be making more than $10,000/year more than they were making with the state. No state workers will make less than $15 per hour. Greg Abbotts turf, DeSantis appoints well-connected Republicans to Reedy Creek board, Florida bill seeks death penalty for child rapists, challenging SCOTUS. About 9 p.m.Tuesday, Trumbull and Stargel sent a memo to fellow lawmakersacknowledging that they wouldn't make a midnight deadline in time fora constitutionally required 72-hour waiting period before lawmakerscanvote on the budget by Friday'slast scheduled day of the 2022 session. stream And employees working for state vendors, such as nursing home attendants, also will get pay increases. However, the pay increase was completely wiped out by a 2.6% increase in state employees contribution to the ERS pension fund. Republicans have said they chose October, a month before statewide elections, because there are typically fewer tourists in the state at that time. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, last year successfully pushed to bring state workers up to a minimum $13 hourly wage. 1 0 obj That money is in addition to another $12 million in local funding requests, along with $80 million for construction of a new state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. State Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, reviewed DeSantis 12-page veto list that totaled more than $3 billion, saw the two local projects that were axed and saidoverall Leon County did well.". 2022-2023 Staff Pay Increase Memo (PDF) Article Date August 4, 2022 Office of Human Resources 282 Champions Way Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182 Florida has the smallest and least expensive state workforce per 1,000 residents among the states. Appropriations Committee (AP). State employee raises will go into effect Oct. 1. . This will help Florida to recruit and retain great teachers., Governor DeSantis is unquestionably the most pro-teacher governor in the nation. DeSantis on masks, Florida school districts rebel against governor's mask order, presenting political test, Helped by federal aid, Gov. House Democrats on Thursday were quick to criticize the new budget, saying it did not adequately help Floridians with rising housing costs and noted that the budget is padded with federal funds from the Biden administration. Now, its over 16%. This effort takes a lot of resources to gather and update. In total, lawmakers are setting aside $800 million for teacher pay, a nearly 50 percent increase from the current years budget. Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. 2020. Effective July 1, 2022, State Law Enforcement Officers, Lottery Law Enforcement Officers and Highway Patrol Troopers will receive a 5.38% plus a 5%, or the base salary will move to $50K whichever is higher. DeSantis budget also puts a freeze on any changes to employee health benefits, either in benefit design or cost.