West Virginia Gov. Justice Promises to Back 5% Teacher, State Employee Pay Raise

by Charles Young SENIOR STAFF WRITER
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Gov. Jim Justice plans to back a 5% raise for teachers and state employees during the 2024 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature.
Justice, during a press briefing Wednesday, said the pay increase would offset proposed Public Employees Insurance Agency premium increases currently under discussion.
“I am absolutely going to put forward another 5% pay raise,” he said. “It should more than offset any raises in PEIA. We need to do that, and we need to accomplish that. And, without any question, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Justice said he hopes the proposal will “sail right through” the Legislature.
“At the end of the day, we want people to not be hurt by these increases,” he said of the higher PEIA premiums. “The increases are really and truly difficult to avoid, but we can offset with pay raises to where we will be putting at least as much money in somebody’s pocket that the increase is going to cost.”
On Monday, PEIA hosted the first in a series of public meetings scheduled throughout the month to solicit public input on changes under consideration for Fiscal Year 2025.
The proposed changes include a 10.5% premium increase for state fund employees; a 13% premium increase for local government employees, plus an eligible spouse surcharge of approximately $147; and a 10% increase for non-Medicare retirees.
These increases, which would go into effect in July, would be on top of the 24% premium increases implemented this year following legislation passed during the 2023 regular session.
PEIA’s five-year plan shows additional premium increases each year through 2028 — meaning employees could experience an increase of nearly 70% over five years if the changes are approved.
The PEIA Finance Board is expected to take a final vote on the proposed changes next month.
On March 17, Justice signed into law several bills passed during the 2023 regular legislative session, including Senate Bill 268 and Senate Bill 423.
Justice described SB 268, which included the first premium increases to PEIA in more than a decade, as “close to a permanent fix for PEIA.”
SB 423 provided a one-time, $2,300 salary increase to public employees.
“It backstops the increase in premiums to PEIA,” Justice said. “Anybody that their pay is less than $133,000 per year will end up with a pay raise and their PEIA (increases) covered. So, to me, it’s a major step in the right direction.”
At the time, Sen. Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, chair of the West Virginia Senate Finance Committee, described the PEIA bill and the employee pay raise bill as essential elements of the $750 million tax reform package.
“In order to make all this work, we needed the tax cut, we needed a (public employee) pay raise, and we needed PEIA fixed,” he said.
PEIA was facing a shortfall of nearly $400 million by 2027 unless lawmakers devised a way to give the ailing insurance program an infusion of funds, Tarr said.
“It requires a premium increase that has not been increased for 12 years,” he said. “For 12 years, think of any private insurance, if you have health insurance, you’re not a public employee, how many times has your health insurance went up?”
Senate Bill 423 was designed to negate the PEIA increases, Tarr said.
“In that pay raise piece, no public employee, regardless of their income level, has a premium increase that exceeds their pay raise. The ones where it’s less have the biggest tax cut,” he said.
The next public hearing on the proposed PEIA changes will take place Thursday in Morgantown at the Holiday Inn on Pineview Drive. The meeting will start at 5 p.m., with the public hearing scheduled for 6 p.m.
Additional meetings will be held in Charleston on Monday, in Bluefield on Tuesday and a virtual meeting will be held Thursday.
For more information, visit peia.wv.gov.