Although Gov. Pat McCrory focused on teacher raises during a Tuesday news conference to outline his 2014 agenda, some other state employees have already gotten a bump in pay.
McCrory said Wednesday that the Office of State Human Resources has implemented pay raises authorized by the General Assembly for employees in high-demand professions, such as medicine, accounting, auditing and information technology, with the goal of reducing turnover.
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The 3,221 state employees will get an average 4.2 percent salary increase. About 1,200 nurses and 600 law enforcement employees will receive increases up to 4 percent, while others will receive increases of up to 10 percent.
McCrory highlighted teachers during his news conference, vowing to push for raises in this year's legislative session. North Carolina ranks among the bottom nationally in average teacher salary, and the state has provided only a 1 percent raise for teachers over the last five years.
He didn't say anything about raises for other state workers, who likewise have gone years without any significant pay increases.
Lawmakers allocated about $7.5 million in the 2013-14 budget to address market conditions, job responsibility changes and pay equity among state workers.
About 73 percent of the money was used to bring pay for certain state jobs closer to the salaries being paid to the private sector. Another 24 percent went to employees who assumed greater job responsibilities but have not been compensated because of a salary freeze, with the remaining 3 percent used to lessen the wage disparity between similarly qualified employees performing comparable duties.