House denies consideration of state employee pay plan

(Rep. Roy Hollandsworth, R-Brady,. voted in favor of moving ahead with the pay plan.. Reps.. Stephanie Hess, R-Havre, Mike Lang. R-Malta, and G. Bruce Meyes, R-Box Elder, voted no.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Representatives have failed to take up pay raises for state employees in the House as a whole.

Montana's House of Representatives voted 44-55 on Saturday to deny consideration of House Bill 13, which had been tabled in the House Appropriations Committee on Friday. The bill is likely dead.

Under the proposal, state employees would receive 50 cents more an hour in October 2016 and again in October 2017. It represented a negotiation between Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and the three major state employee unions.

The measure would also have increased the state's contribution to health care costs by 10 percent in January 2016 and by another 8 percent in January 2017.

State employees lined the hallways of the state Capitol on Thursday and Friday with signs and buttons urging representatives to approve the measure.