JEFFERSON CITY • State employees received a surprise Christmas Eve from Gov. Jay Nixon when he announced they would receive a 1 percent pay raise starting Jan. 1.
The pay raises -- costing the state $5.6 million -- was included in the 2015 fiscal year budget that began July 1, but was withheld by the governor earlier this year as part of $1.1 billion worth of cuts to the budget. In making the cuts, Nixon citing the Legislature failure to expand Medicaid, for example. Declining revenue in the previous fiscal year didn't help, either.
“The citizens of Missouri appreciate the hard work our dedicated state employees perform on their behalf – especially those who work around the clock, such as corrections officers, mental health workers, veterans’ home staff and Highway Patrol troopers,†Nixon said in a statement.
The Democratic governor also released $2 million for state tourism efforts Wednesday, bringing the total to $6.2 million for the current fiscal year's tourism budget.
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These money releases came at a price, however. The governor opted to withhold in the current year's budget $1.8 million of the $4.2 million allocated for state Capitol repairs and an additional $4 million from a fund for state building repairs and renovations.
These projects will be included in the governor's bond issuance proposal announced last week. That proposal would requiring $40 to $75 million worth of bonds for Capitol renovation projects, for example, and would have to be approved by the Legislature during the session that begins Jan. 7. Nixon's announcement last week came with support from both parties. Â