When we provide Texans access to well-funded public resources, fair wages, and dignified jobs, we create a state where everyone can thrive. The responsibility to ensure shared prosperity lies with the Texas Legislature, unfortunately, state leaders fail to take advantage of opportunities to do so. The systemic underfunding of our government and public services undermines all of us. Together, we can hold the Legislature accountable to fully funding our state workforce to get the high-quality services we all deserve this upcoming legislative session.
What Texans need from the 89th Legislature:
- Raise state employee wages through a $10,000 across-the-board pay raise to include university workers. State salaries lag behind the private market and haven’t kept pace with inflation, which leads to high employee turnover.
- Fully staff state agencies. Texas’ state government workforce growth has fallen drastically behind population growth, as you can explore below. Most agency average headcounts fall far behind what is needed to adequately provide high-quality public services to Texas’ 30+ million residents.
- Give retired state workers a COLA. A cost-of-living adjustment will help restore the buying power they’ve lost due to inflation and a rising cost of living. Retired state workers deserve the same dignity they provided us through their public service.
Texans of all backgrounds want to see our families thrive, but we cannot achieve economic prosperity without a state budget that prioritizes its people. To better understand the challenges the Texas state workforce faces, Every Texan and the Texas State Employees Union (TSEU) surveyed more than 6,500 state employees. The data show that state employees are concerned about systemic understaffing which challenges the provision of high-quality public services that we all need. Explore the survey summary and its findings here.
Take action! Call your Texas representative today to say that you want to see a fully-staffed state workforce and high-quality public services.
