Will We Have A Chance to Reshuffle the Budget Deck?

As I mentioned yesterday, it appears that the General Assembly will adjourn without having completed a budget on March 8^th.  The last time it happened this way was in 2004.

This may give us an opportunity.  New budget bills will be introduced in the special session.  They should reconsider the shoddy treatment given to teachers in the regular session.  Teachers and other school board employees were the only employee group not targeted to receive a salary increase.  The introduced budget from McDonnell has no teacher salary increase, and here is what the House and Senate did:

Higher Education Faculty

Senate                  1% Salary + 1% bonus

House                   Included in Institution’s budget

State Employees

Senate                  1% COLA (12/1/14)

                                1% bonus (12/1/15)

House                   2% adjustment for high turnover positions (12/10/14)

                                2% bonus for those not in high turnover positions (7/1/15)

State Supported Local Employees

Senate                  1% COLA (12/1/14)

                                1% bonus (12/1/15)

House                   2 to 4% additional for certain sheriffs and circuit court staff (1/1/15)

                                2% bonus (7/1/15)

Teachers and Support Personnel

Senate                  0%

House                   0%

The budget bills in the special session should address this inequity.