A special Legislative Committee is recommending Kansas lawmakers consider pay raises for state employees. The Kansas News Service reports that officials from several departments recently told lawmakers that low salaries make it harder to hire and retain state workers. Lawmakers say state employee jobs in Kansas may have good benefits, but the numbers show that pay can lag similar private sector jobs in the state by as much as 27%.
Republican Representative Leo Delperdang says it’s time that the state steps up to address the gap, because there was talk about a pay raise of 15.29% for the judges. He says he doesn’t like it but it may be reasonable, or even necessary, for some of the other departments.
The committee heard that state employees being paid less than market value include driver’s license examiners, facilities maintenance and social workers.
