Teacher pay raises uncertain in legislative budget plan
JACKSON • State legislative leaders took no position on providing a teacher pay raise or shoring up the state’s retirement system in the budget proposal they released last week.
However, they stressed they were leaving unallocated funds to address such items in the 2019 session
“As we move into the legislative session, there are a lot of decisions to be made,” said Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves after the 14-member Legislative Budget Committee approved a $6.05-billion state support budget proposal Wednesday morning. “This is a starting point.” But Reeves said the proposal leaves “the flexibility to meet the needs of the state.”
Multiple leaders have endorsed a teacher pay raise for the upcoming session, which starts in January, in advance of the November general elections. Gov. Phil Bryant endorsed at least a $25 million pay raise in his proposal released last month and also proposed allocating an additional $75 million to try to place the Public Employees Retirement System in better financial shape.
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