Governor visits MSP, signs pay rise for correctional officers

The Montana Legislature in Helena is presently considering a $200 million proposition presented by Governor Greg Gianforte to make long-overdue repairs to the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge. However, as of Wednesday morning House Bill 3 is on the books, boosting correctional officer wages by $2 per hour at MSP and $3 per hour at the Montana Women’s Prison and Pine Hills Correctional Facility.

And it was at MSP where the governor signed the bill into law – and where he also spoke on the state of the state’s finances.

“We announced this week that we’re sending a billion dollars back to the Montana taxpayers in the form of direct rebates and partner reductions and rates. But the budget is fiscally responsible … on top of that we paid off the state’s debt, so Montana’s now debt free. I don’t think any other state can say that,” Gianforte said. “We’ve gotta fix what needs fixing and that’s why we prioritize the prison … After decades of bandaids and kicking the can down the road, the facility has been left in terrible disrepair and it threatens correctional officers’ and inmates’ safety, and we need to take care of it. So the time for kicking the can down the road is over.” 

The governor explained that he set aside $200 million to invest into the prison for repairs, to expand its capacity, and improve safety. The only thing stopping him at this point is legislature, but he said he’s hopeful that they won’t have an issue going forward.

After signing HB 3, Gianforte encouraged legislators to pass additional budget bills that will further increase correctional officer pay and repair MSP. Collectively, the three bills are HB 13, HB 2, and HB 5 – a long-range building appropriations bill. HB 13, a state employee pay increase, was proposed by Anaconda’s Rep. John Fitzpatrick (R-HD 77). 

Once all of the bills have passed, the starting wage for a correctional officer will go from $16 to $24 an hour. That’s a salary increase of 45% and is expected to take effect by July of this year.

“So before further ado, I’m gonna sign this bill and give you a raise,” Gianforte said to much applause at Wednesday’s ceremony. 

Shortly thereafter, he opened a roundtable discussion inquiring as to employee input. The feedback included the importance of retaining employees and mentioned that the past few weeks they’ve been having success. Firstly, each member thanked the governor for his support and expressed their future goals. One employee, DJ from Alabama, a mental health worker, expressed a valid concern though about housing – or a lack thereof.

“I appreciate what you’re doing for the infrastructure, but one obstacle I’m seeing bringing people in is affordable housing. The pay raises are great, but it doesn’t match what the housing cost is. We’re working on it, but we could use some affordable housing moving on,” he said.

“The job’s no good if you don’t have somewhere to live,” Gianforte said. “We didn’t talk about it today, but we have a whole bunch of other things in the legislature that’ll help with housing throughout the state. It particularly allows local municipalities like Deer Lodge to put in water and sewer infrastructure for workforce housing. It’s oriented specifically to that.” 

Correctional officers further stated that in the recent few months they feel safer coming to work and expressed that things are getting better. Recruitment and retention were the main topics of the conversation. They suggested several recruitment targets, including high school and Job Corps students, local candidates, and even people from out of town. Once hired, administration does weekly checks to address any initial concerns adding to the ongoing success of the employees, the facilities itself, and the inmates.