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CHARLESTON -- West Virginia lawmakers have been struggling the last couple years over the question of whether to pay state employees in different regions of the state more based on areas with the most shortages of workers.
Members of the West Virginia Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Finance met Monday for the first day of two-day December interim meetings one month prior to the start of the 2023 60-day legislative session on Wednesday, Jan. 11.
Committee members heard a report from Sheryl Webb, director of the West Virginia Division of Personnel, regarding geographical pay differentials for state employees.
According to Webb, the state Division of Personnel does allow for locality pay in limited circumstances through geographical pay differentials. A state agency can make a request to the Division of Personnel defining its needs and providing data to back up a need to set higher salary scales.
"What the geographical pay differential allows you to do is set the pay for a specific area for a specific classification based on data to address an issue that may be occurring in that area," Webb said.
The Division of Personnel reviews that data, looks at employment surveys, and compares the salary request to salaries in similar states, such as Kentucky. The Division of Personnel makes a recommendation to the State Personnel Board which makes the final decision.
While the State Personnel Board will typically approve recommendations for base salary increases for state agencies recommended by the Division of Personnel, Webb said most state agencies do not take advantage of requesting geographical pay differentials. Webb said even if the request is granted, the state agency must have the funding within their budget for the pay increases. State agencies are also reluctant to request a geographical pay differential over concerns about offending current employees.
"They're really concerned about what their other employees might think," Webb said. "If I pay certain employees in this area at this amount, what about the other employees that live over here? Will people move from over here to over here? Sometimes that's something that people have to consider and take into consideration."
The state has struggled with employee shortages in the Department of Health and Human Resources, the West Virginia State Police and the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) for years. The case of the State Police and the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, employees often leave their jobs for similar jobs with better pay in border states, such as Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio.
In August, Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for the state's 11 prisons, 10 regional jails, 10 juvenile centers, and three work-release sites due to severe shortages of correctional officers and support staff. Justice ordered the West Virginia National Guard to assist the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation with staffing. This is the second time since 2017 the state's correctional system has been under a state of emergency due to staffing.
According to DCR, there were 2,862 people employed in West Virginia's regional jails, correctional centers, community corrections, juvenile services, and non-facility staff in August-- down 2.9% since the beginning of 2022 and down 7.1% since this same time last year. Staffing numbers have dropped more than 36% since August 2020.
According to DCR, the base salary for a correctional officer class 1 is $33,214 as of July, with a 7% pay increase to $35,360 for correctional officers after their first year on the job and a promotion to correctional officer class 2. After the second year, salaries increase another 7% to $37,656 and a promotion to correctional officer class 3.
During the 2022 legislative session, a bill was originated out of the House Finance Committee by Del. Jason Barrett, R-Berkeley, to create a locality pay program for correctional officers. The bill was recommended for passage by the House Finance Committee and made it to second reading and amendment stage in the House before being parked on the House's inactive calendar more than a week before the end of the regular legislative session.
An attempt by Barrett to amend a locality pay provision in a bill that passed during the legislative session to include West Virginia State Police troopers in the 5% state employee raise also failed. Barrett cited issues with Eastern Panhandle counties losing state employees to neighboring Virginia and Maryland.
Barrett, now an incoming state senator, attended Monday's meeting. He said he intends to keep pushing for locality pay legislation in the state Senate in 2023. He said Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties are competing for state jobs with neighboring Virginia and Maryland.
"Locality pay is certainly an issue we've been fighting for a long time in the Eastern Panhandle," Barrett said. "I intend to take that fight to the state Senate and champion that issue. I think there is an absolute crisis in our corrections department. We have National Guardsmen and women working a lot in the Eastern Regional Jail. It's a huge problem specifically in the Eastern Panhandle. We struggle to retain teachers and all state employees.
"I think it's important to educate people in both the House and Senate," Barrett continued. "Our competition isn't with the other 53 counties. Our competition really comes from Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the D.C. areas. You can drive anywhere in Berkeley and Jefferson counties and see billboards for Washington County, Maryland, and Frederick County, Virginia, advertising for teachers, correction workers, and law enforcement officers. I'm optimistic we're going to make some progress in this upcoming session."
Speaking in August, Justice called on the Legislature to try again to pass a bill allowing for locality pay for needed state government positions.
"We just haven't been able to compete and attract folks and everything into these positions," Justice said. "I hate like crazy that the bill stalled in the Legislature. We didn't get it through last time. Maybe we'll get it through this time coming up."