Apparently the budget can handle it now. Makes sense, now that all those bloated union contracts are receding into unfond memory:
Most state workers would get a 1% pay raise in each of the next two fiscal years under a plan by Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.
The general wage increase would be the first in four years for most rank-and-file employees and the first in five years for most managers, according to the administration.
The pay raise would cost more than $140 million over two years and apply to most state workers, including employees at University of Wisconsin System campuses. Employees making less than $15 an hour would see an additional increase of up to 25 cents an hour.
If you think that I’m laughing at this rather elegant in-your-face to Wisconsin progressives, you should read Ace of Spades HQ: they’re using the phrase “Pondering menacingly while relaxing upon his throne of skulls.” AoSHQ thinks that this is part and parcel of a general plan to build support for a hypothetical 2016 Presidential campaign; I personally want to get through the 2014 election cycle first, but it certainly won’t hurt Scott Walker if he’s demonstrating skill at turning states around. Because God knows we’re going to need somebody to do that in 2016. Continue reading Gov. Scott Walker (R) calls for pay raises for Wisconsin state employees.