Newsletter | July 2026

Since we won collective bargaining rights in 2020, our top priority has been improving your pay, and, most importantly, ensuring that includes recognition for time served with the state.

Very soon, we’ll be able to share some great news about how Steps 2.0 will bring new step calculations and a new award for the time you’ve dedicated serving the state.

But in the meantime, because it’s July, it’s time to check your paystub. Because if you’ve hit a milestone year of three, five, eight, ten, 12, 15, 20, or 25 years by June 30, 2026, and aren’t being paid the minimum amount for your step, you should see a raise.

We’re also working hard to fix what TABOR and federal budget cuts have done to state revenue: that mess is why we didn’t see Cost of Living Adjustments this year.

To that end, I want to acknowledge all the members who hit the streets to collect signatures to get a Graduated Income Tax on the ballot. Winning that would give us our first real shot at fixing the state’s revenue crisis by raising taxes on the top 3% of earners and lowering taxes for the rest of us.

The more than $2 billion that would raise for the state would make an enormous difference to our ability to get our contract–including COLAs–fully funded every year.

This is the last weekend to sign that petition, or turn in the petitions you’ve circulated. So check out the list of locations across the state where you can add your name this weekend!