Pay raise arrives for Georgia state employees, teachers

Friday is payday, of a sort, for 270,000 state, public university and K-12 employees in Georgia.

For the 100,000 state and university employees, it’s the first day that a $5,000 pay raise kicks in. Meanwhile, for the 170,000 K-12 employees, a $2,000 bonus is on the way before June 30.

The more than $800 million in additional compensation was pushed into the amended budget for the remaining three months of the state budget year by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and lawmakers. They sought to frontload a pay raise so cash will reach employees’ pockets quickly in an election year.