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State Employees In Line For Raises, But At What Cost?

Florida Capitol with dolphin statues jumping in front of tall new capitol tower.
Nick Evans
/
WFSU News
Students from all over will be moving to Tallahassee for fall classes. That's causing some FSU students to worry that the influx of people could create an uptick in coronavirus cases.

State employees are in line for pay raises for the first time in years. But the potential trade-offs for those pay bumps is raising concerns.

All state workers will get something says Senate Appropriations Chief Jack Latvala. All except Florida lawmakers. But how much they’ll get is still being negotiated, and Latvala says some will get more than others.

“Our law enforcement and corrections officers have a larger percentage of increase than other categories as a whole, but I think that’s justified based on the dangers and risks of the job as well as the turnover we’re experiencing," he said.

What is also unclear is what it took to get the Florida House to agree to the raises. For years the House has called for changes in state employee health insurance and the Florida Retirement system. And there are measures doing exactly that moving in both chambers.

Most but not all employees of public radio stations in Florida are state employees.

Follow @HatterLynn

Lynn Hatter is a Florida A&M University and Florida State University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master's in Professional Communication. Lynn has been with WFSU since 2007 with education and health care issues as her key coverage areas.  She has worked with several organizations, including Kaiser Health News.  Lynn has also partnered with USC-Annenberg's Center for Child Wellbeing on the nationally acclaimed series "Committed," which explored the prevalence of involuntary commitment use on children.
She serves on the board of RTDNA and the United Way of the Big Bend, with previous service on the board of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida.

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