State employees are waiting to hear if they'll get raises next year, after being stiffed two straight years by state lawmakers. The joint legislative committee that'll review Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's recommendation for a 2 percent merit raise had been tentatively scheduled to meet, and possibly decide, on Friday. But that turned out to be a scheduling conflict with, among other things, the funeral for the 93-year-old father of the committee's co-chairman, Rep. Bob Schaefer, R-Nampa. According to the committee secretary, the next possible date is Jan. 27 _ because once the session's under way, the House Commerce Committee meets on odd days, and the Senate Commerce Committee meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That's the next date those two coincide.

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