Joint Budget Committee backs 1% range, 1% step pay increases and adopts judicial vacancy-savings option

The Joint Budget Committee voted to reconsider its earlier compensation decision and approved funding a 1% salary range adjustment and a 1% step-like adjustment for state employee pay, Vice Chair Bridal said as she moved the motion.

"I move to reconsider the JVC's previous action on range adjustments and step like increases to employee compensation ... I moved to fund a 1% salary range adjustment and a 1% step like adjustment for state employee compensation," Vice Chair Bridal said. The motion passed "on a vote of 5 to 0 with Kirk Meyer excused." The committee also authorized staff to work with the governor's office and DPA to develop department-level estimates.

Committee staff then asked the panel to confirm how to apply a 1.5% vacancy-savings reduction for the judicial branch. Amanda Bickel, JBC staff, told members the calculation the committee used last year excluded judges, judge support staff, law clerks, magistrates, interpreters and court reporters from the 1.5% reduction — lowering the hit to the courts from about $6.2 million to roughly $3.4 million.

"These are critical state staff," Bickel said, explaining why the committee might exempt those roles from vacancy savings. Members debated trade-offs between excluding more staff (and saving less) versus taking a larger reduction. Vice Chair Bridges moved to adopt option 3 from the Bickel/Thompson memo — the committee's middle-ground approach — and the motion passed 5–0 (Kirk Meyer excused).

What this means in practice: the committee narrowed how the 1.5% vacancy savings is applied to court-related positions, preserving pay for frequently staffed roles (court reporters, certain chief officers) while applying vacancy assumptions elsewhere. Staff will reflect that choice in updated balancing memos and department-level estimates.

Next steps: staff will finalize estimates with the governor's office and DPA, and the committee will reconvene as needed once both chambers' members are available to complete final bill drafts.