Republican leaders propose massive pay raise for troopers

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Republican state leaders are proposing hefty pay increases for state troopers and sheriffs’ deputies, along with a 3 percent pay raise for other state employees. Public school teachers would be excluded under the proposal, which still has to be approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor.

GOP budget leaders in the House and Senate announced the proposal at a capitol news conference Wednesday, but were short on specifics about how they would pay for it. They said those details would be provided in the coming days of the legislative session.

Employee pay has been a top topic of budget discussions since lower-than-expected revenues forced the state to scrap planned raises last year. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, proposed a one-time 1.5 percent bonus to state employees and teachers under his proposed budget.

Troopers have long complained of morale problems and high turnover because of low pay. Under the GOP proposal, troopers would get nearly a $7,000 raise, plus another 3 percent increase that other state employees will receive. Starting pay for a state trooper will go from around $36,000 to about $44,000.

“It’s going to be huge for morale, absolutely huge for morale,” said D.J. Smith, president of the Virginia State Police Association.

Del. Chris Jones said teachers were not included in the proposed raises in part because most localities had already given raises. Teacher pay is a mix of local and state funding in Virginia.

But Virginia Education Association President Jim Livingston said localities found money for raises because they value the work that school employees do, something he said GOP leaders just showed they don’t.

“This is a slap in the face to every school employee in the commonwealth of Virginia,” Livingston said.

McAuliffe was non-committal to the GOP proposal. The governor’s spokesman Brian Coy said McAuliffe supports pay raises, but not if they are paid for by cutting core services or though budget moves that would threaten the state’s bond rating.