93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
Cole County’s approximately 14,000 state employees received an 8.7 percent pay raise in February, under a bipartisan plan proposed by Missouri Governor Mike Parson. The plan received strong bipartisan support, and the governor signed it into law in February at Jefferson City’s Truman Building.
State Sen. Mike Bernskoetter (R-Jefferson City) tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that he hopes the governor will highlight state employee pay again during his January State of the State address.
“We’ve been lucky in the last few years to be able to increase the salary. Hopefully we can do that again this year (2024) would be one of the main things I would think that we would do,” Senator Berskoetter tells listeners.
Missouri’s 2024 legislative session begins January 3 in Jefferson City, and the governor is expected to deliver his final state of the state address in mid-January. Senator Bernskoetter, who chairs the Missouri Senate General Laws Committee, says state lawmakers have also set aside millions of dollars to fund improvements to the Missouri Capitol’s aging interior. He’d like to see Governor Parson address that as well during State of the State.
“If you go around the (state) Capitol, you’ll see little spots with tape on them and stuff where the paint is peeling off. Right now the legislative library there’s some decorative I don’t what you’d call them medallions or something that were falling off the ceiling. Just you know, the building is 100 years old and other than a few coats of paint here and there and some new carpeting here and there, there hasn’t been much done to the inside,” says Bernskoetter.
You can listen to the full “Wake Up” interview with Senator Bernskoetter here.
