Missouri lawmakers blow past Parson’s requested deadline to give state workers raises

When Missouri Gov. Mike Parson proposed an across-the-board pay raise for a state workforce plagued by high turnover, he described the situation as “critical” and asked lawmakers to approve it by Feb. 1.

But the date has come without the measure even making it out of committee.

Department directors have been dangling the possibility of a raise in the hopes of keeping frontline staff such as prison guards, snowplow operators and child welfare workers from quitting. But the delay could increase the exodus.

Missouri routinely ranks at the bottom of the nation in state worker pay, and wages over the past two decades have only risen at half the rate of economic indicators such as the consumer price index, budget director Dan Haug told the House Budget Committee this month.

Parson’s plan would give all workers a 5.5% raise, and institute a minimum salary of $15 an hour across the state government. The latter move would affect about 8,800 of the state’s 51,000-member workforce that currently make less than $15 an hour.

It’s intended to stem a 26% rate of worker turnover across Missouri government. In lower-paid jobs, that rate is more than 50%.

Parson’s office did not respond to a request for comment on delays to the bill’s passage.

Department heads have been waiting on the spending bill, telling workers and prospective employees that they hoped to have a raise in place on Feb. 1 at the earliest.

“We’re certainly trying to be very transparent about the fact that it’s pending approval with the General Assembly,” said Robert Knodell, acting director of the Department of Social Services (DSS)

Turnover among childrens’ case workers in the juvenile justice system exceeds 40%, Knodell said. DSS is also hoping the pay raise can boost recruitment of social service call center workers and eligibility specialists as wait times for the state’s recently expanded Medicaid program have risen to 70 days, weeks beyond the maximum allowed by federal law.

“We’re trying to fill these positions as aggressively as we can,” Knodell said. “We think we’ll have more applicants, more interest and a better opportunity to fill these positions more quickly after the supplemental pay increase comes into effect.”

The pay plan was the first bill heard by lawmakers when session began. House Budget Chair Rep. Cody Smith, and his Senate counterpart Dan Hegeman both have been supportive. But in the month since the General Assembly convened, some Republicans have grown skeptical.

Concerns include whether all workers should get the same raise, instead of targeted raises toward positions with the worst shortages or highest turnover. And some Republicans have balked at the idea of backing a $15 minimum wage, with lawmakers asking Haug this month if the number was chosen as a “political statement.”

“We have some concerns about that,” Smith, a Carthage Republican, said. “The recognition of the need, there’s a broad consensus on that piece. The difference in opinion comes to how we deliver those resources and who we deliver them to.”

Missouri’s minimum wage is $11.15 an hour this year, and Smith said the state should set its pay in a manner comparable to private sector minimum-wage positions.

“Does that mean that those truly minimum-wage jobs are now going to pay $15 an hour, and what does that do to the private workforce sector?” he said. “Does that create an unfair advantage to the state?”

Haug has told lawmakers the $15 baseline was chosen to allow the state to begin competing with the private sector, where raises have been offered amid a labor shortage.

Democrats, who have supported the pay plan, have pushed for the bill to be called for a vote. Rep. Peter Merideth of St. Louis, the ranking Democrat on the budget committee, accused Republicans of being talked out of their support by hardline conservatives.

“If you’d asked me two weeks ago or even a week ago I think we had a strong bipartisan agreement with the vast majority of the legislature that the governor’s proposal was absolutely essential,” he said Monday. “It’s really just market-based pay. What Republicans hear is … it sounds like a liberal proposal.”

Meredith called the state worker shortage an “emergency” and said the bill is “just being sat on.”

Smith brushed aside criticism of his pace, explaining his committee is doing “due diligence” on the spending bill that totals $5.5 billion. COVID has also caused some lawmakers to miss days of work, he said.

In addition to the pay plan that would cost $119 million, less than half of which would come from general revenue, the bill includes money to pay for the Medicaid expansion that lawmakers refused to fund last year, and federal COVID relief funds for schools, much of which must be allocated by late March.

Smith said Monday he planned to have his committee vote on the spending bill this week, but that was unlikely to happen as the legislature faced the possibility of a snowstorm cancelling work.

Hours later, Department of Transportation director Patrick McKenna told lawmakers the state is down 400 snowplow operators. MoDOT has already warned the public this winter that road-clearing could be delayed in the event of a statewide snowstorm because of staff shortages.

“I do have concerns that if we aren’t responsive in a timely manner that we could have further issues with turnover and job vacancies, and ultimately, discontinued state services,” Smith said. “But I think we’re still on a timeline that will address the problem.”