This message has been approved by Renisha Gibbs, Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Finance & Administration Chief of Staff, for distribution to all Deans, Directors, and Department Heads. On average, employees opting for family coverage had to pay 37 percent of their overall premiums, or $7,674. State Auditors report states that the top 3 reasons for leaving are retirement, better pay/benefits and poor working conditions. The legislature needs to appropriate a $6000 across-the-board pay raise for state university employees! Greg Abbotts turf, DeSantis appoints well-connected Republicans to Reedy Creek board, Florida bill seeks death penalty for child rapists, challenging SCOTUS. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. Bringing home the bacon: What Leon legislative delegation got into 2022-23 state budget, Leon lawmakers' 2022 session agenda: Work, new jobs, aid to North Florida counties. In another dramatic move, lawmakers dropped aHouse-backed $200 million redistribution of funds from 12 counties that defied Gov. Please see the attached memorandum regarding the 2022-2023 Salary Increase and Minimum Wage Pay Adjustment for In-Unit & Out-of-Unit Staff. "There really are no more important issues than food and jobs so thats disappointing.. The spending targets a host of practical problems, lawmakers say, including inflation. This summary is provided for information only and does not represent the opinion of any Senator, Senate Officer, or Senate Office. The current agriculture commissioner, Democrat Nikki Fried, is running to challenge DeSantis for governor. I called People First to ask why his subsidy was not excluded and they said it was because no payment for health insurance was taken out of his monthly pension check. FICA contributions are shared between the employee and the employer. Update the new pay period amount for any employee given a pay change after the initial data is pulled, with an effective date prior to July 1, 2022. We know from some of our survey data that people struggle to pay their health care costs by making trade offs with other parts of their budgets, less on food, maybe different housing, delaying getting education, Collins said. The states employees who opted for single coverage averaged the third highest rates in the nation $1,811. 2022. We have saved the livelihoods of so many people who are hardworking, who dont have the luxury of working from home, and we stood up for them time and time again, he said. Thecelebration over a historic 5.3% across-the-board pay raise for state employees and a new $15 minimum wage for state workers was partlyovershadowed Friday morning by the vetoes of $1 million earmarked to the Second Harvest of the Big Bend and a $50,000 appropriation for the Leon Works Expo and Junior Apprenticeship Program. (In December, he proposed a $99.7 billion budget, but in reality, it was at least $2 billion higher.). In total, lawmakers are setting aside $800 million for teacher pay, a nearly 50 percent increase from the current years budget. But employees here have to shoulder a greater burden. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 25 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> The budget is 10.4 percent higher than last years $101.5 billion budget, which would be the largest one-year increase in at least a decade, according to data from Florida TaxWatch. Florida lawmakers have passed a $112.1 billion state budget containing pay raises for state workers and a gas tax suspension, striking a bipartisan agreement that closed a session. C) Pay raises for PBA's state bargaining unit members are completed. Employees in Florida paid more for their health insurance in 2020 than workers in nearly every other state, a new study from The Commonwealth Fund found. Tristan Wood graduated from the University of Florida in 2021 with a degree in Journalism. But the two chambers. The $800 million is a $250 million increase over last years funding, and brings Floridas investments in teacher pay to greater than $2 billion since the 2020 Legislative Session. 2 0 obj [1] Local revenues include required and discretionary local effort for the public schools and tuition and fees for workforce, colleges, and universities. 6. Important Notes: The Governor doesnt like to mention this, but Floridas budget includes nearly $40 billion in federal money this year. - Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced $800 million in this year's budget to raise minimum teacher pay and increase veteran teacher salaries in Florida. The mentorship program by the nonprofitOmega Lamplightersworks with boys in grades 4-12 to decrease gang related activity. Ron DeSantis ' proposed nearly $100 billion spending plan would provide an average 4% pay increase for state employees and. The project will restore wildlife habitat, rehydrate wetlands, and improve discharge into the Floridan Aquifer and directly benefit the Wakulla Springs. endobj My husband and I receive retirement benefits including a health insurance subsidy (HIS). This is a budget that will serve our state for generations to come, Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, said in a statement. It would take a pay increase of about $13,500/year or 45.8% to bring the buying power of the median state employee salary back to its 1987 level. Florida lawmakers approved the state's biggest-ever budget, a $112 billion plan that includes a gas-tax holiday, pay raises for workers and more spending than the governor's proposal. High deductible plans have lower monthly premiums, but employees are required to pay more out of pocket costs for their health care. For my tax form from the State the Health Insurance Subsidy was excluded from my gross income with the notation The purpose of the HIS is to provide assistance with the cost of health insurance coverage. Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. Protecting state health insurance is not such an accomplishment when a couple of retirees have to pay nearly $1000/month for a supplemental to Medicare policy. . From a leadership perspective, when I am looking for talent to hire, I dont want salary to be a deciding factor in that a teacher wont join our organization because they cant afford it., Educators are the backbone of America, said Tiqkia Barrow, 5th Grade Teacher, Renaissance Charter School at Wellington. The journals or printed bills of the respective chambers should be consulted for official purposes. Theyre proposing $200 million in federal relief dollars to supplement a monthlong cut to the states gas tax in October. As lawmakers craft the 2022-23 state budget, the House and Senate are pushing to boost pay for state employees, local school staffers and certain health care workers. DeSantis' veto list, Thats kind of crushing. Lawmakers have assigned $3.5 billion in federal dollars for various projects in the next fiscal year, with the biggest piece about $1.4 billion going to construction and maintenance for the states colleges and universities. Email: [emailprotected] (A similar program was vetoed by DeSantis last year.). In a session in which the majority generally inflicted pain or ignored the needs of working Floridians, caregivers and the elderly, this budget provision was a considerable slice of relief, said Dale Ewart, executive vice president of 1199 Service Employees International Union in Florida, the union representing more than 24,000 active and retired caregivers across the state. We have invested more than $2 billion in teacher pay, and with rising inflation, this could not come at a better time. Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page. <> In allocating the pay increases to career service employees, the Governors budget requires the agencies to take into consideration the length of time employees have been on the job. They apparently succeeded Tuesday,but still unclear in negotiations was whether teachers and staff in these districts would be eligible for the new school recognition awards. While lawmakers have been mired in grueling, emotional fights over abortion and other hot-button topics during this years legislative session, their proposed budget received little criticism. In K-12 education, negotiators reached general agreement on an almost $385-per-student increase in school funding an almost 5% boost that would bring funding to an average $8,143 for each of Florida's 2.9 million school kids. Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Kelly Hayes, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Andrew Wilson, Wes Wolfe, and Mike Wright. Now, its over 16%. The Republican governor signed the budget legislation at an event in The Villages, the nations largest retirement community, where supporters packed out a recreation center and applauded as he highlighted his pandemic policies and spending priorities while criticizing Democratic President Joe Biden. Simpson made the $15 minimum wage a priority this legislative session. Under the budget agreement, the money must be held in reserve until Jan. 1, 2023, halfway through the fiscal year. 2021. Nursing home employees also would reach $15-an-hour minimum pay as part of a 7% increase in Medicaid rates paid nursing homes that was also agreed to Tuesday. I applaud the Governors leadership and vision for recognizing that the starting salary of teachers needed to be raised to address this challenge. <>/Metadata 242 0 R/ViewerPreferences 243 0 R>> Its unfortunate that despite having record cash to work with, we couldnt do more for Floridians struggling with a housing crisis and global inflation, said Rep. Fentrice Driskell, the incoming leader of the House Democrats. Nursing homes got more than $200 million that must be spent on raising staff wages to $15 per hour. Corrections officers would start at $20 per hour. Tallahassee, FL 32306, FSU Directory Assistance Lawmakers now are certain to extend the session. Lawmakers cut the bulk of a $309 million fund for hospitals that serve the states poorest and sickest Medicaid patients. He is on my State Retirement health insurance plan. 2023. Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, last year successfully pushed to bring state workers up to a minimum $13 hourly wage. But with inflation rising and many state agencies struggling to hire and keep employees, lawmakers have adapted to a new political reality. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing. University. Publications, Help Searching Ron DeSantis will have final say over how much the state spends in the 2022-23 fiscal year. Existing Florida law. No state workers will make less than $15 per hour. 2021-2022 Base Salary Increase & Staff Bonus Memo. According to the Department of Management services, the average pay among Career Services employees is $37,668, while the statewideaverage is $51,000. But it also addresses critical worker shortages. Please see the memorandum regarding the 2021-2022 base salary increase and 3% bonus for In . Brandes said those plans make consumers more aware of the services they get as well as the costs of the services. Support WUSF now by giving monthly, or make a one-time donation online. AFSCME, the labor union representing state workers, said it appreciates the state recognizes theres been years of undervaluing workers. That money is in addition to another $12 million in local funding requests, along with $80 million for construction of a new state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee. Letsgetstarted. The cost of groceries rose 8.5 percent over the past year. DeSantis budget proposes $255 million for career service state employee raises but includes agency discretion in determining who gets a pay bump. Bills are debated, approved or disapproved by State lawmakers. 1 0 obj Certainly, we were not advised about this Catch 22 when he was added to my retiree health plan. STAFF LOGIN, Gov. DeSantis budget also allocates $75.4 million to increase the base rate of more than 4,500 sworn law enforcement officers, $124.2 million to increase the base rate pay for correctional probation officers and inspectors who work for the Department of Corrections, and another $15.9 million to the department to implement an employee retention plan. Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees . Effective July 1, 2022, State Law Enforcement Officers, Lottery Law Enforcement Officers and Highway Patrol Troopers will receive a 5.38% plus a 5%, or the base salary will move to $50K whichever is higher. Search Gov. St. Petersburg, Florida 33704. Ultimately, Gov. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport, Florida's Legislative Session and how it works. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Questions or Comments, Privacy Policy The variety of bills touch virtually every aspect of life in the Sunshine State. STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTERS-STATE HOSPITALS. Employees can choose a standard option or a high-deductible policy. For maybe the first time in Floridas history, we have a Governor and administration that goes above and beyond to recognize and empower educators by listening and giving us a voice., Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis. The Florida Freedom Budget directs DMS to ensure benefits currently under the various health insurance plans remain the same through June 30, 2023. State employee raises will go into effect Oct. 1. . Districts lose dollars because of masks: GOP lawmaker aims to strip state funding from school districts that defied Gov. State agency and university employees need a REAL pay raise! 2020. All 2022 Bill Summaries for Appropriations Committee, $43.7 billion from the General Revenue Fund (GR), $2.8 billion from the Education Enhancement Trust Fund, $ 1.2 billion from the Public Education Capital Outlay Trust Fund (PECO TF), $64.3 billion from other trust funds (TF), 112,472.26 full time equivalent positions (FTE), An additional $1 billion for Inflation Fund was reserved for budget amendments necessary to counter increased costs due to inflation, which is not included in the $8.9 billion in reserves, FEFP (funding provided in overall BSA increase), Agency for Health Care Administration - Medicaid Services, Agency for Persons with Disabilities - Medicaid Waiver Services, Department of Juvenile Justice - Contracted services, Department of Veterans Affairs - Contracted services, 5.38 percent State Employee across-the-board increase to address inflation, State Law Enforcement Officers/Troopers - Increase minimum salary to $50,000 or an additional 5 percent pay increase, whichever is greater, Correctional and Probation Officers - Increase minimum salary to $41,600 ($20 per hour), and other position classifications ranging from $45,760 to $57,886, State Firefighters - Increase minimum salary to $41,600 ($20 per hour), Juvenile Justice Detention Officers - Increase minimum salary to $39,520 ($19 per hour), Juvenile Justice Probation Officers - Increase minimum salary to $41,600 ($20 per hour), Veterans Homes Nurses - $5.6 million for salary and recruitment incentives, Assistant State Attorneys and Public Defenders - $5,000 - $10,000 pay increase, Charter School Repairs and Maintenance - $195.8 million, Public School Maintenance - $11.4 million, College and University Maintenance - $843.7 million, Developmental Research School Repairs and Maintenance - $8.1 million, Small School District Special Facilities - $64.4 million, District Tech Center Projects - $13.9 million, Florida College System Projects - $216.2 million, State University System Projects - $563.9 million, School for the Deaf and Blind Maintenance and Renovation Projects - $8.5 million, Public Broadcasting - Health and Safety Issues - $5 million, Authorization for State University System (SUS) Capital Improvement Student Fee Projects - $44.7 million, Partnerships for School Readiness - $53.2 million, Early Learning Standards & Accountability - $4.9 million, Voluntary Prekindergarten Program - $553.4 million, Decrease of 2,645 fewer students ($6.4 million), Voluntary Prekindergarten Program Additional Base Student Allocation (BSA) Payments - $151.3 million; these additional payments are provided to ensure all VPK instructors are paid a minimum wage of at least $15 per hour, FEFP Total Funds increase is $1.69 billion or 7.5 percent, FEFP increases in Total Funds per Student is $384.55, a 4.96 percent increase [from $7,758.3 to $8,142.8], Base Student Allocation (BSA) increase by $214.49 or 4.9 percent, FEFP Base Funds (flexible $) increase of $1 billion or 7.15 percent, Required Local Effort (RLE) increase of $633.2 million; RLE millage maintained at prior year level of 3.606 mills, Teacher Salary Increase Allocation - $250 million increase for a total of $800 million that school districts must use to increase the minimum salaries of classroom teachers to at least $47,500, Safe Schools Allocation - $30 million increase for a total of $210 million for School Safety Officers and school safety initiatives, Mental Health Assistance Allocation - $20 million increase for a total of $140 million to help school districts and charter schools address youth mental health issues, Reading Instruction Allocation - $40 million increase for a total of $170 million to provide comprehensive reading instruction, Turnaround School Supplemental Services Allocation - $24.4 million - funds for services designed to improve the overall academic and community welfare of students and their families at designated lower performing schools, Funding Compression & Hold Harmless Allocation - $68.2 million - compression funds for districts with total funds per FTE that are less than the statewide average and hold harmless funds for districts that have a reduction in the District Cost Differential, FEFP increases are provided to school districts to ensure all employees are paid a minimum wage of at least $15 per hour beginning in the 2022-23 school year, Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program - $6.5 million, School Recognition Program - $200 million, Community School Grant Program - $7.6 million, Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources Centers - $8.7 million, Transition Support Funding for Jefferson County School District - $5 million, Computer Science and Teacher Bonuses - $10 million, School District Foundation Matching Grants - $6 million, Florida Association of District School Superintendents Training - $750,000, School and Instructional Enhancement Grants - $46.4 million, Florida School for the Deaf & Blind - $53.2 million, Assessment and Evaluation - $134.7 million, VPK and Student Literacy Program Monitoring Systems - $15.5 million, Just Read Florida Early Literacy Professional Development - $1 million, ACT and SAT Exam Administration - $8 million, Workforce Development for career and technical education and adult education - $390.4 million, Perkins Career and Technical Education grants and Adult Education and Literacy funds - $123.3 million, CAPE Incentive Funds for students who earn Industry Certifications - $6.5 million, School and Instructional Enhancement Grants - $4.4 million, Pathways to Career Opportunities Grant Program for apprenticeships - $15 million, Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums for apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship students - $2 million, Nursing Education Initiatives - $20 million, Adults with Disability Funds - $11.6 million, Inclusive Transition and Employment Management Program - $1.5 million, CAPE Incentive Funds for students who earn Industry Certifications - $14 million GR, Nursing Education Initiatives - $59 million, System Wide Base Funding Increases - $55 million, Student Open Access Resources (SOAR) - $5.4 million, Student Success Incentive Funds - $30 million GR, 2+2 Student Success Incentive Funds - $20 million GR, Work Florida Incentive Funds - $10 million GR, Moffitt Cancer Center Workload - $10 million in additional funds, Johnson Matching Grant Program Workload - $20,000 in additional funds, Nursing Education Initiatives - $46 million, Cybersecurity Resiliency - $20.5 million, HBCUs - $680 thousand in additional funds, Nursing and Health related education initiatives - $2 million, Engineering and Technology initiatives - $29 million, Benacquisto Scholarship Program - $36.4 million, Children/Spouses of Deceased or Disabled Veterans - $13.5 million, Dual Enrollment Scholarship - $18.05 million, Law Enforcement Academy Scholarship - $5 million, Medicaid Price Level and Workload - $2,207.5 billion, KidCare Workload (Due to Caseload Shift to Medicaid) - ($58.8) million, Minimum Wage for Medicaid Providers - $273.6 million, Minimum Wage for Nursing Homes - $212.8 million, Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICF/IID) Reimbursement Rates - $29.6 million, Maternal Fetal Medicine Provider Rate Increase - $2.5 million, Organ Transplant Rate Increase - $6.3 million, Specialty Childrens Hospitals - $84.9 million, Hospital Outlier Payments - $50.2 million, Florida Cancer Hospitals - $156.2 million, Florida Medicaid Management Information System (FMMIS) - $112 million, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) - $82.7 million, Establish Recurring Dental Services Program for the Developmentally Disabled - $8.5 million, Direct Service Provider Rate Increases to Address Minimum Wage - $403 million, Waiver Rates for Behavior Services - $14.2 million, Home and Community Based Services Waiver Waitlist - $59.6 million, Community Based Care Funding Increase - $158.4 million, Mitigate Title IV-E Earnings Shortfall - $32.6 million, Foster Care Child Daycare Subsidy - $24.9 million, Foster Care Board Rate Parity - $19.1 million, Fatherhood Engagement and Family Involvement Programs - $31.8 million, Increased Subsidy for Foster Youth Attending Postsecondary Education - $16.9 million, Maintenance Adoption Subsidies - $10.1 million, Guardianship Assistance Program - $8.7 million, Foster Care Board Rate Adjustment - $3.3 million, Expand Adoption Incentive Benefits to Law Enforcement Officers - $4 million, Community Based Behavioral Health Services - $211.1 million, State Mental Health Treatment Facilities Forensic Beds - $20 million, Legal Settlement Funds for Opioid Epidemic Abatement - $11.3 million, Florida Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) Team Funding - $7 million, Florida System and Florida Safe Families Network Technology Modernization - $31.5 million, Alzheimers Disease Initiative - $12 million, Community Care for the Elderly - $9 million, Casey DeSantis Cancer Research Program - $37.7 million, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute - $20 million, Leon Haley, Jr., MD Trauma Center - $80 million, Fatherhood Grants - Home Visiting Program - $4.4 million, Primary Care Health Professional Loan Repayment Program - $6.6 million and 3 positions, Dental Student Loan Repayment Program - $1.8 million, Hormonal Long-acting Reversible Contraception Program - $2 million, State Veterans Nursing Homes - Nurses Salary and Recruitment Incentives - $5.6 million, State Veterans Nursing Homes - Contracted Services Increase to Increase Wages to $15 per hour - $6.9 million, Nonrecurring Trust Fund Shift to General Revenue Due to Trust Fund Deficit as a result of the New Homes Delayed Opening, and Decreased Occupancy Rates Due to COVID-19 - $41.3 million, Florida is For Veterans Increase for Administration and Programs - $2.06 million. This situation is getting even more difficult for teachers across the nation with rising inflation. Florida Gov. Florida lawmakers agreed to the pay raises on Wednesday as they finalized negotiations on a more than $100 billion state budget. On the health care side, Florida leaders once again turned down billions in federal subsidies that the state could have used to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of working poor Floridians. And other hospitals including Jackson will continue to benefit from a program begun in 2021 that brought more than $1 billion in new federal funding during its first year. For state employees, the minimum wage will increase to $13 per hour. This is just the amount to offset the increased cost of living not covered by past pay increases we have received. Existing Florida law enforcement officers will also receive a 5% pay raise or have their salary increased to $50,000. The Gadsden EOC and Sheriffs office is currently housed in a 30-year-old building that does not meet hurricane building codes and lacks space to house all agencies needed during an emergency. By, Move to take the wood stork off a federal endangered list is putting environmental groups at odds, Environmentalists object to bills they say undercut development, conservation goals, Bill Before Florida Senate Would Put Local Ordinances on Hold if Challenged, Legislation would make it illegal for doctors to provide gender-affirming care to transgender youths, Barbara Bryant, the first woman to head the U.S. census, has died at 96, Scientists find signs of horse riding in ancient human remains, A man dies of a brain-eating amoeba, possibly from rinsing his sinuses with tap water, Garland supports effort to hold Russia accountable for war crimes, A report from the Commonwealth Fund highlights racial inequities in Florida's health care system, Biden's plan to stop surprise medical bills faces bipartisan pushback in Congress. The budget deal uses $800 million in federal funding for environmental spending, including $300 million to allow the Department of Agriculture to expand the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
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