Topeka — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback isn't including a general pay increase for state employees in his proposed budget.
But the spending plan Brownback outlined Thursday would continue to fund a program that provides longevity bonuses to veteran state employees during the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The proposed budget notes that state employees haven't received pay increases for several years, as Kansas has struggled with financial problems.
Brownback's administration says he's not proposing a cost-of-living increase for workers, or funding the boost in pay that civil service workers normally receive if they've satisfactorily completed another year of work.
But Brownback's budget does include $12 million for longevity bonuses. At 10 years, workers get a bonus of $50 for every year of service, up to $1,250.
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pace (anonymous) says…
Thank god Brownback is holding on to old values, that cutting taxes for the rich will produce jobs. He is willing to do so on the back of state workers and cutting services to children, sick and elderly. what a guy. I hope he can offer enough sacrifices to appease his gods, the koch bros. Everyone has the right to practice their religion.
carrwatt (anonymous) replies…
You all were so kind to donate your raises to the illegal immigrants!
One life saving pill, who do you give; your child or your neighbors? Think about the dollar amounts going to illegals kids when it could be going to educate, feed, house & provide proper medical care for our own kids. I've heard so many times how it's not the fault of the illegal immigrant kids they are here, so why are we making it our kids fault? Education cuts when illegal immigrants get instate tuition in Kansas?
Brownback as well as all our elected officials have outsourced their humanity to children of other countries, those that should not be here. Until he sees this, no amount of cuts will aide Kansas as our illegal immigration population continues to grow.
Neglecting our own children to care for our neighbors is appalling, Americans must decide, Americans or Neighbors as we can't have both!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfG...
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) replies…
Well, yea, that's a real solution-- blame everything on some kids.
You know, your xenophobia can in no way compensate for your bad math. There have been numerous studies that have shown that immigrants (illegal/undocumented or otherwise) are pretty much neutral in their effects on government expenditures, since they also pay a large amount of taxes that support programs that they can never benefit from (and probably subsidizing benefits you get, to boot.)
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus (anonymous) says…
Yea, but I hear that he's going to give them all a really big slice of cake.
Wallythewalrus (anonymous) says…
Yum, Cake.... when? where?
magnus (anonymous) says…
Brownslack strikes again! Propping up the state budget on the backs of the state employees, many of which earn middle-class incomes! Talk about being out of touch with his constituents!
riverat (Joe Hyde) says…
I stand transfixed by the governor's appreciation of the state workers who keep this place running.
If I may offer my services as speech writer for his next State of the State address:
"Uh, look here now, my fellow Kansans. Enough naive voters thought I would do good things like look out for the middle class, improve public schools, protect the environment, safeguard women's rights, all that middle-of-the-road nonsense. Are you people crazy? Did you think I'd really do stuff like that?
"Remember the moral high ground grandstanding and staff foot-washing I did in Washington when I was a U.S. Senator? Fooled ya, didn't I? All I'm back here in Topeka to do is take orders from the billionaire Koch brothers, wrap their anti-social legislative actions with a U.S. flag and pages torn from the Bible, and systematically make the State of Kansas unrecognizeable from the place y'all grew up in. (The Kochs would do these things themselves but they're too shy to get out in public.)
"And about these Kansas state workers hoping for a pay raise? Oh, please. To the Kochs and me they're plantation slaves working a different farm field, is all. So don't anybody get upset when I dictatorially terminate entire groups of them and deny the rest pay raises.
"Well, okay, okay: a $50 per year bonus...but they only get the money after, repeat after, they've worked my fields for 10 years. And by then it won't be me paying them the $50; I'll be living somewhere down in Texas, where between prayer conferences me and Rick are gonna be lobbyists for Boeing. It's the Christian thing to do,"
InspectorJo (anonymous) says…
Really, Sam, help Kansans. Did you forget how you got where you are at? Another year of no State COLA?
Wallythewalrus (anonymous) says…
If money grew on trees. We would all be working for the man picking money on the money tree farm. Did not vote for Sam for student body president at KSU and never voted for him to represent me.
cowboy (anonymous) says…
Brownback should fire himself , its the only righteous thing to do Sam. You have spent your lifetime sucking wealth from the government in jobs where there was no accountability for you personally. You and your family have sucked hundreds of thousands of dollars in farm subsidies from the taxpayers. Sam , you are a government welfare Ho.
Now in the first position that does require planning , execution , and knowledge of a larger environment you have failed at every step with amateurish hires , half assed implementations , and complete miscalculations of the impacts of your hair-brained ideas.
So fire yourself please , it would actually be the best thing you could do for Kansas.
PS: Quit with the savior pose , enough.
pegicorn (anonymous) replies…
Here, here! I totally agree with you cowboy. Please Governor Sam Browback put your two weeks notice in. The state of Kansas will rejoice in your news for once!
trinity (anonymous) says…
Great...yet another year that saw job duties (at least in my position) increase due to edicts from fools who have NEVER worked "in the field" and who have absolutely zero idea what we do on a day to day basis, not to mention having to deal with the fact that there exist "higher" level people in this particular branch who rarely perform a full day's work yet rake in over 100k per year...our insurance premiums have gone up...and we can't even get a freakin' COLA?? Well thank god, at least, that longevity is intact. What an utterly soul-less idiot this governor of ours is. Oh yeah-thanks to whomever posted above&reminded me that there *might* be CAKE served at the statehouse *maybe* someday! That's real nice for the state employees in Topeka; when the hell do the rest of us get "cake"???
question4u (anonymous) says…
Brownback isn't interested in fairness. He's made that crystal clear. It's simply not in his character.
His creed is "prosperity belongs to the few." You can't build castles for the few unless you break the backs of the many. School children, the mentally disabled, state workers, and anyone who isn't wealthy like Brownback is not the governor's concern.
toe (anonymous) says…
Clearly workers consider their labor as being fairly or over priced. Otherwise all these state jobs would go unfilled. I would reduce wages until I discovered the true market price.
jafs (anonymous) replies…
That's remarkable.
When people are desperate, they'll accept whatever they can get - so with increased unemployment and a bad economy, you can probably find people to work for very little money.
There we have the fundamental moral issue at the base of a "free market" approach.
Wallythewalrus (anonymous) replies…
The fair market price for most of level state jobs below I would say 40,000 a year should be 47,000. So if you are for reduction of wages, start at the top. Trinity is spot on.
cyborg6886 (anonymous) replies…
The State paid for a study to be done on the wages of state employees and found that the people in my job position were 33% under paid. There were market adjustments made over time to help bring that up but they were small uncompleted steps and only for the "classified" employees. I, however, am unclassified. Basically I do not get cost of living raises or longevity bonuses and I surely don't get the market adjustment raises. I haven't gotten a raise in several years. None of us unclassified workers have. What's worse is that 75% of my pay is reimbursed to the state by the federal government. The state is only responsible for 25 cents of every dollar I get paid and yet I am still getting paid $7 to $10 per hour less than the people doing my same job in the private sector.
progressive_thinker (anonymous) says…
What the article fails to mention is that the salary freeze only applies to the employees in the classified service. That includes psychiatric aides at state hospitals,corrections officers at state prisons, and a variety of others that do the most thankless jobs for the state.
If they have one of their buddies in a highly paid unclassified position, they can pay them what they want, and give them a raise if they so choose.
cyborg6886 (anonymous) replies…
The State paid for a study to be done on the wages of state employees and found that the people in my job position were 33% under paid. There were market adjustments made over time to help bring that up but they were small uncompleted steps and only for the "classified" employees. I, however, am unclassified. Basically I do not get cost of living raises or longevity bonuses and I surely don't get the market adjustment raises. I haven't gotten a raise in several years. None of us unclassified workers have. What's worse is that 75% of my pay is reimbursed to the state by the federal government. The state is only responsible for 25 cents of every dollar I get paid and yet I am still getting paid $7 to $10 per hour less than the people doing my same job in the private sector
kcflyer (anonymous) says…
For State employees at KUMC, this will be year 4 without a raise. (Year 5 if you don't count the very generous 1% raise 4 years ago). Everything keeps going up...the State health plan premiums continue to rise. Yes, for some reason employees at every other Regents school including KU got raises this year...but not at KUMC. It is costing employees money to be a State employee. Brownback is so out of touch with reality and how could BGL allow raises for main campus employees but not KUMC employees? It is a sad state of affairs.
Jane (anonymous) replies…
USS employees at KU did get raises, but the bulk of the raise came from the $500 bonus that all state workers(except at KU) received at the end of 2010. KU held onto that money for a year, then placated the workers with a 'raise'...plus a few pennies 'merit' raise. Thankful, yes, but not fooled one bit. Meanwhile one department head received $40,000 per year raise!
It took three votes among classified people to pass the transition to University Support Staff. The first vote, it was voted down, the second vote was a tie (yeah, right), the third vote passed, just barely. Promises of being brought up to comparable industry wages have not been fulfilled. While thankful for a steady job with good benefits, the deal voted on has not come to fruition.
merrill (anonymous) says…
Sam Brownback is putting a lot of hot button issues forward.
Is Sam Brownback even a republican? I say no.
So why did the republican party get behind this bogus republican? Did they not do their homework?
carrwatt (anonymous) says…
Mandatory E-Verify is on the table in Kansas, want a raise?? Push for E-Verify, eliminate all the illegals, saves KS money, gives you raises !! Charity begins at home..
vertigo (Jesse Crittenden) replies…
Find many illegals working for the state do you?
Also what about the decrease in state income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, licensing taxes, and excise taxes once all these illegals leave? Our revenues will plummet... yet somehow you think that will lead to raises for state workers.
You don't think about the consequences of our actions much (if at all) do you?
carrwatt (anonymous) replies…
Why would revenues plummet if we are spending the billions on our own Americans! Consequences of our actions? I and many I know are living the poor consequences of our States' actions!
vertigo (Jesse Crittenden) replies…
We won't have those billions to spend on our our Americans due to the lost revenues from sales taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, licensing taxes, and excise taxes that are paid by the millions of illegals.
You want to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Yet you're one of those that are a drain on our economy... sucking up disability- living off us taxpayers dime while not contributing yourself.
I'd much rather have the illegal working and paying taxes, contributing to the economy here then the person a person like you not working and living on an entitlement.
roadie33 (anonymous) says…
I was working at a new construction site for 2 weeks for a new State Office in Western Kansas a few years ago. The sheet rock contractor had 10 guys on the crew and the only one that spoke English was the lead worker. On Friday of both weeks, I watched the Owner come in and the crew lined up and he paid them in cash, except the Lead worker who got a check.
Now tell me where that income tax helped Kansans or anyone for that matter.
vertigo (Jesse Crittenden) replies…
Paying them under the table makes no sense to me since he can claim wages as a deduction on his personal income tax - and he can't do that if he's paying in cash. But assuming what you say is true and that you didn't misinterpret what was occuring-
1- Just because someone doesn't speak english doesn't mean they are illegal.
2- You think those guys don't eat, drink, buy cigarettes, put gas in their cars, register their cars, pay rent, purchase clothing, purchase tools, etc etc with that income they just took? That money goes straight back into the economy. I doubt you'll find illegals running around with hundreds of thousands of dollars stuffed in a sock. They spend their money to live on... just like the rest of us. They spend that money here in Kansas... just like the rest of us. Kansas collects taxes on those sales.