Manchin budges on pay proposals

Gov. Joe Manchin told The Associated Press on Monday that he supports granting state employees a permanent raise, and wants that pay hike to match whatever teachers receive during the ongoing legislative session.

The administration also told AP that it's amenable to a more robust raise for teachers than what Manchin proposed in his pending bill.

The governor had requested only a one-time lump-sum payment for rank-and-file workers, equal to 2.5 percent of their wages.

Manchin had also proposed a 2.5 percent salary hike for educators, but the House Education Committee has boosted that to 3.5 percent while converting the bonus into a permanent raise for school service personnel.

The governor addressed the issue after dozens of state employees spent their Presidents' Day holiday at the Capitol lobbying for better pay and other improvements. Both the Register-Herald of Beckley and MetroNews covered the larger of the two competing rallies.

The Charleston Daily Mail, meanwhile, notes that the state continues to phase in about $77 million worth of teacher salary increases passed during a 2005 special legislative session that focused on pay issues (and I observe in the AP story that rank-and-file state workers received a $900 raise during that session).