By Zach Hester, Reporter • zach@southerntorch.com (Photo by Hal Yeager | Governor's Office)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — On Tuesday, Governor Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) signed two bills into law: the first to raise pay for teachers and the second to raise the pay of state employees.

Senate Bill 188, which was sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr and Rep. Bill Poole, will raise the pay for Alabama teachers by two percent. Governor Ivey called for the raise in her 2021 State of the State address. House Bill 320 raised the pay for state employees.

Both bills passed the state legislature earlier this year. SB 188 applies to all K-12 and higher education officials.

“If this pandemic has taught us anything, it reinforced what we already knew – teachers are vital to our student’s learning, and our state employees keep government services operational for the people of Alabama," Ivey said. "I am proud to sign this well-deserved pay increase to our educators and state workers...It is both fiscally wise and simply the right thing to do after a hard year."

Governor Ivey's full State of the State address, where she called for teacher and staff raises, can be found here: https://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2021/01/governor-iveys-state-of-the-state-address-2/.