In a departure from the North Dakota Legislature's usual practice, state employees may have their pay questions answered long before lawmakers finish their work.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a compensation package for the next two years. It includes 4 percent annual raises, a minimum $75 monthly pay rise for most workers, and continuation of a prized health insurance benefit that does not require state employees to contribute part of its monthly cost.

Sen. Raymon Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, the committee's chairman, said he expected the full Senate to act on the measure quickly. North Dakota's budget surplus, which is expected to reach $540 million, makes the decision easier, he said.

"We've always said when times are tough, you've got to cinch your belts, and they've done that," Holmberg said Friday. "Now, times are much better. Therefore, we should repay those hardworking people."

Normally, the final provisions of a pay package for state workers are not known until the final days of the Legislature. The package is included in the budget bill of the Office of Management and Budget, one of the last spending measures that lawmakers handle before they adjourn.

This year, separate legislation was introduced, providing the framework for state employees' compensation package for the next two years.

It says state agencies will get enough money to finance 4 percent pay increases for their workers in 2007 and 2008, with a minimum $75 monthly increase. State employees who are on probation, or who do not meet performance standards, may not qualify.

The legislation includes a $10 million fund to remedy pay disparities among certain jobs in state agencies, and says state government's practice of paying the full health insurance premium for its workers should continue. The average cost is estimated at $658 monthly for the next two years.

The measure affects about 8,400 state workers. It does not apply to North Dakota's university system, where the Board of Higher Education is hoping to provide 5 percent annual raises this year and next to college faculty and other workers in the state university system.

Jodee Buhr, director of the North Dakota Public Employees Association, and Bill Kalanek, a spokesman for the Independent North Dakota State Employees Association, said they were pleased by the Senate's action.

"I think it's very important to them to receive a message that their issues were addressed early," Buhr said. "Legislators have heard … for a long time that state employees need to be a priority, and we have said repeatedly that we want them to be first in line, and not last in line."

Kalanek said an early settlement of the state worker pay issue would help employee morale.

"It shows a new set of priorities by this Legislature, that the people who make up state government, and do the work on a day-to-day basis, are the most important piece," he said. "That's a statement that they're making that is very positive."

The bill is SB2189.