Florida's state workers set to receive third consecutive raise, or a $1,000 boost for most

The Florida Legislature is looking to boost the pay for a depleted state work force and for the third consecutive year has inserted a pay raise in a $117 billion state budget it will soon send to Gov. Ron DeSantis.  

In sum, the plan spends about $134 million for a 3% pay increase for 96,863 state employees. 

House and Senate leaders finished working out details Monday. The chambers on Tuesday published the document and sent copies to lawmakers at 11:48 a.m. That started a constitutionally-mandated 72-hour cooling-off period before a Friday vote and conclusion of the 2024 legislative session.

When announcing the budget had dropped, House Speaker Paul Renner said lawmakers will have a "pretty good Friday," meaning they'll be able to end their work and head home.

Some 79,000 workers classified as Career Services employees will see an increase of about $1,032 annually. The raise for middle managers and those in what are called "select exempt" positions (16,000 employees) will see an additional $1,325 and pay for about 600 senior managers will get boosted by $2,658. 

This is the third year in a row, and the fourth in the past five years that state workers have received raises. They got just two stand-alone raises between 2008 and 2019. 

However, the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest labor union, points out teacher pay ranks near the bottom in average teacher salaries among the 50 states. Pay for public school teachers is funneled through the state budget to local school districts. 

“Make no mistake: our state has the ability to provide funds to pay teachers and education staff professionals fairly, to fully fund public education, to ensure teacher vacancies are filled so every child can have an educator trained in their subject,” said Andrew Spar, the FEA's president, in a statement.  

The starting salary for a Florida teacher is $47,500 compared to a national average of $50,200, according to the National Education Association. The Florida Department of Education reported there were nearly 5,000 teacher vacancies statewide at the start of the current school year. 

Florida government: Lean and mean?

Florida runs a much leaner government than other states, and it appears to be getting smaller. 

At $40 per resident, the average state worker costs Floridians less than half the national average of $90. And the state employs 96 people to handle the paperwork, maintain facilities, and provide services per 10,000 residents compared to the national average of 198. 

According to the latest Department of Management Services annual workforce report, 10,210 workers have left their state jobs since 2018 while just 355 positions have been eliminated. 

Since 2019, state worker base pay has increased on average by about $4,000, according to DMS. And there are currently more than 17,000 vacant positions in state government – or about 19% of positions are unfilled. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has the last word on a state pay raise, proposed eliminating about 1,400 jobs across state government in his budget proposal. 

James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow him on X: @CallTallahassee.