State Employees Still Worried About Budget Impact
It took lawmakers 6 months from the start of the regular session to finally agree on a general fund budget.Â
With an increased cigarette tax and some money from the education budget, they avoided some very severe cuts.
Mac McArthur with the state employees association says he’s happy with the solution.
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“I think when you look at the budget and if you compare it to the budget at the end of the regular session or the special session or some of the other budgets, it’s better. You have somewhere around 176 million new dollars in this budget,” said McArthur.
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He says there are currently about 30 thousand state employees, down about 6 thousand over the last four years.Â
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It’s making work harder on those still drawing a check from the state.Â
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“So every state employee is having to do more and more. There are also increased demand for state services so employees are being stretched to the max. The budget that exists now won’t have the massive layoffs we feared in the regular session and the first special session,” said McArthur.
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But that doesn’t mean every job is safe. It also doesn’t help that state employees are still living off wages from almost 10 years ago.Â
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That’s a priority for McArthur when lawmakers return in 6 short months to start the whole process all over again.
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“So certainly we think addressing the needs of state employees, the pay issue is just a critical need that has to be addressed.”
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