In final hours, lawmakers to boost state employee, teacher pay
PIERRE — State lawmakers said they're confident they have enough to fund small raises for teachers, health care providers and state employees hours ahead of the due date for the annual spending plan.
A similar proposal to boost funding to the groups by 1 percent was pulled off the table earlier this year when state appropriators learned consumer spending had stalled, leaving them with lower revenue estimates than they'd anticipated. But with hours remaining to finish and pass the budget, lawmakers said they'd work to approve a 0.3 percent increase for those individuals.
Debates were still waging Thursday night and leaders of the Joint Committee on Appropriations couldn't say definitively whether the savings would generate the roughly $4 million needed to fund the raises.
"We're working on the deal," said Rep. David Anderson, R-Hudson, who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations.
Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/09/final-hours-lawmakers-boost-state-employee-teacher-pay/98948108/