By Bill Cotterell

Florida Capital Bureau 

TALLAHASSEE -- House and Senate budget negotiators today agreed on a 2 percent pay cut for state employees earning more than $45,000 a year.

University system employees would be exempt from the cut, said House budget leader Marcello Llorente of Miami, because of the difficulty in retaining and recruiting top-rated faculty members and other specialized employees in higher education. But all other state workers, including legislators themselves, will lose some salary in the fiscal year starting July 1.

A separate bill is pending to continue the 5 percent reductions in legislative salary that members have taken for the past two years. It could go as high as 6 percent, and does not include the $45,000 threshold.

The budget compromises include the state picking up a 5 percent increase in employee health insurance costs next May, sparing state workers that expense.

"It's more fair than 4 percent," said Rep. Debbie Boyd, D-Newberry, who represents thousands of state workers in a North-Central Florida district. "But it still is going to affect employees who haven't had a raise in three years."

Budget negotiators also saved state funding of libraries, which had been zeroed out last week. They settled on $21 million in operating assistance for libraries in all 67 counties and 15 cities.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, and Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, will resolve several big and small spending differences that were "bumped up" by the inter-chamber negotiators. The $65 billion state budget could then get floor votes in the House and Senate as early as next Thursday, ending the extended 2009 legislative session.

Gov. Charlie Crist visited the budget negotiators, thanking members for their work and expressing confidence that sticking points can be worked out by the presiding officers.