(AUDIO): Bipartisan state employee pay raise is heading to Missouri governor’s desk

Jefferson City’s approximately 14,000 state employees will soon be receiving a pay increase.

State lawmakers have approved a supplemental budget that includes an 8.7 percent pay raise for state employees. Governor Mike Parson called for the raise during his January State of the State address:

“With more than 7,000 positions open across state government, this wage increase is necessary and it is the minimum we must do. And on behalf of all state employees, I ask for your full support to pass this increase and deliver it to my desk by March 1,” Parson told lawmakers on January 18. They beat the governor’s deadline by about a week.

Once the governor signs the bipartisan bill, state employees will receive the raise. The pay increases comes as Missouri struggles to keep workers from leaving for better-paying jobs.