The pay raise the Governor announced for classified state workers has already begun to disappear from state budgets.  This week budget subcommittees at the state legislature began deleting the pay raise from appropriation bills.  So far employees at  the Department of Corrections and the Department of Health and Environment have seen their pay raises vanish. 

Is there a silver lining here?  Maybe. 

During committee hearings Rep. Sutton, R-Gardner stated it was a “fact” the Appropriations Committee wanted the 1.5% pay raise stripped out of all department budgets because they wanted to explore

Although KOSE bargains for pay raises, those pay raises have to be placed in the budget and approved by the legislature before they can take effect.  Last year for the first time, the Kansas Legislature aproved a two-year budget.  That budget did not include raises for state employees.

The 2014 legislative session begins on Monday, January 13.  Contact your legislators and tell them that pay increases for state employees should be a priority!

If you do not know who your legislators are, click here to use your address to look up your legislators and their contact information.

In the fall of 2014