The governor unveiled a new pay plan for state employees that she will present for legislative approval during the 2025 regular session.
At the announcement of the pay plan, she said it was the fulfillment of a promise she made when campaigning for office. Bringing salaries more in line with those in the private sector, the state will encourage people to apply for the jobs in state government that are hardest to fill, she said.
The Secretary of Transformation and Shared Services urged people to go online and apply for jobs. “This new pay plan allows us to be flexible and competitive in the market both now and moving forward. Consider working with us – apply now at arcareers.arkansas.gov,” the secretary said.
The President of the Arkansas State Police Foundation Board said that the higher pay would boost morale among state troopers and would improve efforts to recruit and retain the best law enforcement officers. That will make Arkansas safer, the foundation president said.
The governor’s proposal would raise the salaries of about 14,539 state employees, who represent about two-thirds of the executive branch workforce. A stated goal of the pay raises is to bring state employees’ salaries closer to private sector salaries in comparable labor markets.
Another goal is recruit and retain employees in categories in which the state has had chronic shortages, such as nursing staff, prison officers, social services workers and the State Police.
Security officers at state prisons would see average entry-level salaries increase by 35.3%, from $37,589 to $50,845. Average salaries for all officers would increase by 17.1%, from $50,461 to $59,100.
Some agencies, such as the Department of Human Services, hire staff who work with troubled teens and young people in broken homes. They have turnover among social workers, cause by stress and by caseloads much greater than recommended in national standards.
Entry-level salaries would increase by 20.5%, from $44,172 to $52,442. The average salaries for all staff would increase by 15.3%, from $48,733 to $55,364.
At the State Police, average entry-level salaries would go up by 19.8%, from $56,498 to $67,706. The overall average salary would go up by 10.4%, from $73,318 to $80,930.
The state hires nurses at long-term care facilities. The average entry-level salary would increase by 8.3%, from $51,032 to $54,661, and the average pay for all nurses would increase by 9.6%, from $57,686 to $61,552.
The cost of the pay plan is an estimated $102 million, and will be included when the governor presents a balanced budget to lawmakers next week. According to the governor’s office, almost $60 million will come from the general revenue fund, the state’s main source of spending for services. General revenue comes mostly from sales taxes, individual income taxes and corporate income taxes.
Other state government funds will pay for the remainder of the costs of the pay plan. The governor said that much of the cost would be absorbed by agencies in their existing budgets, which have many positions that are vacant.
