The state is expected to have a record amount of revenue to use over the next two years. Some lawmakers want to use some of the new money to give raises to teachers, Nevada Highway Patrol Troopers and correctional officers. If passed, AB296 would give them an annual raise of $10,000.
"We have the money now," Assem. Chris Edwards, R-Las Vegas said. "Why not use it for what we should be using it for and that's taking care of our people."
According to the Nevada Highway Patrol Association, troopers make about 35 percent less than the average salary at sheriff's offices and police departments. Edwards says a pay increase could help attract new recruits and keep current employees.
"They're not being paid," Edwards said. "We know they're not being paid and we're losing people and we're losing more people all the time and it's just not right and it's not good policy. It's just not a smart way to run the organization."
Officials say they are losing employees to other agencies because they get more money and better benefits. They say training new recruits costs NHP more than $5 million each year. Last year, 67 people left the highway patrol.
"We spend $60,000-$70,000 putting a kid through post-certification and the academy, and three or four years later, they go double their salary at Metro or Douglas County or Washoe or wherever," Assem. Jim Wheeler, R-Minden said.
The Nevada Department of Corrections has a similar problem. With nearly 14,000 inmates in the Nevada prison system, a lot of correctional officers are needed. There are 79 vacancies throughout the state, including 74 openings at Ely State Prison, 43 at Lovelock Correctional Center and 27 at Northern Nevada Correctional Center. The director says the pay is not high enough and it is hard to recruit new correctional officers to some rural areas.
"When you start comparing salaries to the public, we do have a tough retention of our staff," James Dzurenda, Director of Nevada Department of Corrections said.
Dzurenda says Nevada's annual wages are similar to other states but that correctional officers in our state have a lot more money withheld than almost every other state, including medical benefits and pensions.
"The salary itself may look okay but what they take home is actually a lot lower than the standards in the community," Dzurenda said. "It's not unusual to see staff with $500 or less come back in their paychecks. If you're trying to raise a family, it's not sustainable living."
"Imagine if you're going to be working 40-50 hours a week in a prison, with your life at risk a lot of times and all the difficult work you've got to do that's dangerous, and they're going to give you 350 bucks a week?" Edwards said.
Officials say Ely State Prison has a 24 percent vacancy rate, and the statewide average is about 14 percent.
"They've got 14 percent vacancy rate," Edwards said. "That's insane because it's not just the vacancy rate that they have. It's also the churn of people that's turning over because they can't pay them enough to stay."
Dzurenda says the population in men's prisons is dropping but the amount of incarcerated women is rising. He says a higher number of inmates have mental health issues, drug addictions and medical problems that the correctional officers have to adapt to.
"Staff have to be able to understand and get trained on how to manage this and it's more difficult, so their jobs are becoming more difficult and the impact is becoming more powerful," Dzurenda said.
The state is expected to have an additional $1.1 billion over the next biennium than the previous two years. Edwards says these raises would use less than two-thirds of that new revenue. Nearly $500 million of that would go to teachers.
The bill would also add 300 more school police officers, allowing each school to have at least one officer on campus.
