Are you a state employee? One SC senator wants to get you a raise!
COLUMBIA, SC
Across-the-board pay raises are not included in the state budget proposal that senators will debate next week.
But one member wants to change that, saying Thursday he plans to whip bipartisan support and offer as much as a 3 percent pay raise for all state employees through a budget amendment.
“I live in Richland County, where there are lots of state employees, wonderful state employees. I hear from them at the grocery store, at the gym, at church, asking when will they get a pay raise,” said state Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland. “The answer is always the same: I will always fight for that.”
Underpaid SC workers want cut of $177M surplus. Governor snubbed after saying no!
COLUMBIA, S.C.
The S.C. State Employees Association gave an informal, back-of-the-hand endorsement Monday to Democrat state Rep. James Smith of Columbia in the race for South Carolina governor.
The association has been pushing for S.C. leaders to use a $177 million surplus in the state’s budget to pay one-time bonuses to state workers, split between roughly 32,000 state workers and 50,000 public school teachers. Both are underpaid compared to their Southeastern neighbors, according to a pay study.
Rather than endorse a bonus, however, Republican S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster says the key to addressing the Palmetto State’s inability to recruit and retain public workers — from prison guards to Social Services workers to teachers — is addressing the $20 billion-plus unfunded liability to the pension system for those workers.