North Carolina becomes first state to adopt $15 minimum wage for state employees

North Carolina has become the first state to adopt a $15 minimum wage for most of its state employees, The Courier-Tribune in Asheboro reported.

The change was included in the state’s budget, which went into effect on Tuesday. State lawmakers had voted to overturn Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) veto of the budget.

The new minimum wage means about 9,000 state workers will get a raise. The new minimum salary for full-time staffers clocks in at about $31,200 a year, the newspaper reported.

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The change applies to most jobs in state agencies and in the University of North Carolina system, but does not apply to temporary workers, or public school or community college employees who make less than $15 an hour.

Robert Broome, the executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, told the Courier-Tribune that public school bus drivers, custodians and teaching assistants are largely excluded from the new minimum wage.

Teaching assistants will still receive an annual raise of about $400, according to the N.C. Association of Educators.