Alabama teacher, state employee pay raise bills signed into law

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Pay raises for Alabama's teachers and state employees are now law following bill signatures Thursday by Gov. Kay Ivey. A third bill also got ink from Ivey's pen, giving retired state employees a one-time bonus.

Ivey's office released a photo of each of the approvals with the sponsors of each piece of legislation flanking her as she signed the documents at a table in her office.

"We cannot have an effective state government without excellent employees. I am proud to have proposed the first raise for state employees to pass in close to a decade and I appreciate the work of the legislature in approving the pay increase as well as a one-time bonus for retired state employees," Ivey said. "Our teachers mold our children and thus our teachers mold our future – that's why I proposed a teacher pay raise and why I am pleased to sign it into law."

HB174, sponsored by Rep. Bill Poole and Sen. Arthur Orr, enacts a 2.5 percent salary increase for public education employees of K-12 public schools, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), the Department of Youth Services School District, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the Alabama High School of Mathematics and Science, and the two-year postsecondary institutions under the Board of Trustees for the Community College System. The law is effective October 1.

SB185, sponsored by Sen. Clyde Chambliss and Rep. Dimitri Polizos, enacts a 3 percent salary increase for state employees and appellate judges. It becomes effective on the first payday of the fiscal year 2019.

And SB215, sponsored by Sen. Gerald Dial and Rep. Connie Rowe, grants a one-time lump-sum bonus of $1 per month for each year of service to Employees' Retirement System (ERS) retirees whose effective date of retirement is prior to May 1, 2018, or their beneficiaries. That bonus will be granted during Fiscal Year 2018.

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