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Joint Finance Committee approves state employee raises for FY 2020

Tom Byrne
/
Delaware Public Media

Delaware state workers are likely to see larger paychecks in the next fiscal year.

Members of the Joint Finance Committee approved raises for state workers for Fiscal Year 2020. Most state workers will get a $1,000 hike unless they’re covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Public school teachers will receive a 2 percent increase.

Office of Budget and Management Director Mike Jackson said the state will also hold off on health insurance premium increases. He said there’s enough resources in the group health insurance plan for another fiscal year.

“It’s still not a matter of if premiums will ever go up, it’s just a matter of when," he said. "And more of a timing issue. So I think we’re on the right path.”

JFC co-chair Harris McDowell (D-North Wilmington) said lawmakers agree with this approach. He said a few years ago they gave workers a raise, but a lot of it went toward higher insurance premiums.

“So we’re trying to do a comprehensive approach so that employees know that we are intending to keep up a regular effort to make sure their take home is better than it was last year,” he said.

Instructors at Delaware Tech will get the $1,000 raises while faculty at Delaware State University and the University of Delaware will see 2 percent increases. Jackson said Del Tech has wage scales set in state law while Delaware State and UD do not.

Jackson told lawmakers the wage compensation study being conducted by the Human Resources was completed. But an HR spokeswoman said it’s still in draft form.

An OMB official told lawmakers they’ve been given some of the study’s results. She said she doesn't believe there’s a gender disparity in pay.

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