In January of this year, Indiana State Budget Director Chad Ranney told the Indiana Capital Chronicle that raises for the state’s government employees might not be feasible in 2026.
As the publication recently reported, an Indiana state personnel department email has now verified that Indiana state employees will not see salary increases in 2026, marking the second year in a row they will receive no pay raises.
For 2025, then-Gov. Eric Holcomb gave a one-time bonus to all state employees but no pay raises. That one-time stipend cost coffers more than $20 million, the Chronicle’s Niki Kelly wrote on March 23.
The contingency fund that typically covers salary adjustments was reduced by 90% in the current state budget, Kelly reported.
After the budget was implemented in July 2025, a new revenue forecast showed the state could take in more money and accumulate nearly $5 billion in surplus by mid-2027, she wrote.
While state employees did not receive an official memo notifying them of the decision to not provide pay increases in 2026, the aforementioned email confirmed as much, according to Kelly.
“The executive branch’s ability to give raises depends on having room within existing, appropriated budgets, not the forecast,” Ranney told the Chronicle. “Despite the rosy forecast, appropriated budgets haven’t changed.”
06 April 2026
Category
HR News Issues
