CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that he has secured the support of the Republican-led Legislature to give all state employees – including public school teachers and service personnel – a five percent pay raise for the third time since 2018. It should be noted employees working in office of elected officials such as the auditor, secretary of state, and treasure amongst other will not receive the pay increase.
Additionally, Gov. Justice announced that all state employees will also receive a one-time 2.5% bonus to combat the rising costs of inflation. The Governor said the bonus will be known as the Inflatocine – short for Inflation Vaccine. Employees working in the offices of elected officials also will not receive the bonus. There is also a legality at play regarding whether these bonuses are legal.
“As we’ve gone through this horrible pandemic, we’ve continued to kick out surplus after surplus,” Gov. Justice said. “Our state is doing really good. I commend everybody that’s made all the right moves on the chessboard. We want to reward our people for a lot of great work that they’ve done and we also want to continue to help our teachers and make education our centerpiece in West Virginia.
“In addition to this, we have a situation going on in this country with this runaway inflation,” Gov. Justice continued. “So, we’re going to do a one-time supplement to try to help our teachers and state employees who are contemplating how they’re going to fill their cars up with gasoline and buy groceries with the inflated prices.”
The pay raise and Inflatocine bonus will be submitted to the West Virginia Legislature in the form of a bill, which legislative leaders announced they intend to support during the 2022 Legislative Session.
The Governor was joined for today’s announcement by West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw.
Statement from Senator Minority Leader Baldwin and House Minority Leader Skaff Regarding State Employee Pay Raises
We are grateful that the Governor has secured the support of the Legislature to give all state employees, including state troopers, teachers and school service personnel, a pay raise. We, as a state, must take care of our own. We must put West Virginia families- and West Virginia workers- first. Democrats have stood with state employees, troopers, teachers and school service personnel to fight for past raises, and we are thankful that the Governor continues to see the importance of the work these West Virginians do every day.
We know that the massive influx of federal funds, largely thanks to Senator Joe Manchin and his Democratic colleagues, has enabled our state to be in the strong financial situation that we are in. We look forward to passing legislation next session to improve the pay for thousands of workers across our state. We hope that these salary discussions are expanded to include much needed cost-of-living adjustments for retirees.
It is important that we show our state employees, troopers, teachers and school service personnel that we value them and the work that they do. These raises are a good step to help build a better West Virginia and to encourage West Virginians stay here, rebuild here and succeed here.
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