LJWorld.com

Topeka — Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' proposal to raise state workers' pay by 4 percent has hit a snag in the Republican-controlled Legislature, with an influential senator questioning whether the state can afford to be so generous.

Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, said Tuesday that he wants to postpone a decision on pay raises until the end of the legislative session in late April. Umbarger said he and his colleagues need to know whether approving the raises this year would leave the state short of money in 2010.

The GOP-led House Appropriations Committee also is likely to tinker with Sebelius' plan, but for a different reason. Republican leaders want to overhaul the system that determines what civil service employees are paid, and they're hoping to consider some small changes within the next two weeks.

State government has about 42,000 employees, making their pay raises a key budget decision for legislators each year. Sebelius' proposals would increase state spending by more than $86 million a year.

"I'm just trying to figure out how to pay for it," Umbarger said.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said he is frustrated that state employees would have to wait until the end of the session. He said state workers shouldn't come last in the budgeting process.

But Carl Hill, lobbyist for the Kansas Association of Public Employees, took Umbarger's statements in stride. He said what's important is that legislators improve longevity bonuses and give civil service employees a cost-of-living increase, as well as a raise for completing a year on the job satisfactorily.

"In the final analysis, it really doesn't matter when the pay plan is put together, whether it's now or toward the end of the session, just as long as those components are there," Hill said.

Sebelius proposed a $12.4 billion budget for the state's 2008 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The legislative budget committees are working on their own versions of bills containing the bulk of that spending, with the House committee planning to finish its work by March 9 and the Senate panel, a week later.

Once the two chambers have reviewed their work, House and Senate negotiators will draft the final version so that it can go to Sebelius by early April. Lawmakers then plan to take a spring break and return April 25 to wrap up their work on the budget and other issues.

Sebelius proposed giving civil service employees a 2.5 percent "step" increase in their pay, compensating them for another satisfactory year on the job, as well as an additional 1.5 percent cost-of-living increase. Employees not in the civil service would receive an average 4 percent merit raise.

She also proposed larger longevity bonuses. After working 10 years, an employee receives a lump sum payment, $40 for each year, up to $1,000. Sebelius wants to make the bonus $50 per year, up to $1,250.

But her proposed budget depends on the state eating into its cash reserves to sustain the spending she is proposing into the future. The Legislature's staff projects that, even with better-than-expected revenue collections, those reserves would drop from $839 million on June 30 to below $121 million on June 30, 2010.

"We've got to find more money to keep us from going into the red in 2010," Umbarger said.

Budget Director Duane Goossen said Umbarger's concern is legitimate, but added, "You could ask that question about every item in the whole budget."

"Some of the decisions that are being put off could be made already, right now," Goossen said. "Clearly, there's enough information to make budget decisions as we go along."

In the House, GOP leaders appointed a special committee to study the civil service pay system to determine which state jobs have pay matching private sector wages and which do not. While an overhaul is likely to require a study this summer and fall, the committee will recommend some short-term alternatives, said Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.