State Employees Get Pay Raises

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(KCPW News) State employees will get solid raises next year. Attorneys who defend Utah in court will see even bigger boosts in pay. Senate budget leader Lyle Hillyard says salaries were a top priority for lawmakers in doling out the surplus.

Public employees will receive a three-point-five-percent cost of living increase and department heads will get additional money to use at their discretion. Judges will receive a 10-percent increase in response to pleas from State Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham who says Utah is having trouble recruiting for the bench. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has pushed for six years to get more money for his attorneys. They currently make 15 to 20 percent less than other state-employed attorneys.

"We've been having a hard time getting city prosecutors to come work for us because they have to take a pay cut to leave Duchesne or Tooele and come work for us," say Shurtleff.

His attorneys will get pay increases between five and ten percent, and investigator salaries will improve, too. Compensation for state employees is the first significant budget decision lawmakers have agreed on this session.

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