So far, prospects for a modest salary increase proposed by Gov. Sam Brownback for classified state employees aren’t particularly bright.

In his budget proposal, the governor recommended a 1.5 percent pay increase for classified employees, who haven’t received a pay raise for five years. However, legislative committees have been systematically removing those raises when they review individual agency budgets. When a member of the House Appropriations Committee questioned that action earlier this month, he was told by committee Chairman Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, that legislators would debate the pay raise in a “global” sense later in the session rather than discussing it for each specific agency. However, Rhoades noted that the pay raise wasn’t included in the two-year budget the Legislature approved last year.

“It’s an additional spend,” he added. “We are going to continue to strive to keep government small. Some of you like to spend money. I don’t like to spend money.”

That doesn’t sound particularly optimistic for classified employees who probably are among those who would “like to spend money” — and might even give the state economy a boost — if they had a little more money to spend.

Five years is a long time to go without a raise. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2010 to 2014, the consumer price index has risen about 7.3 percent. What cost $20 in 2010 would cost $21.45 this year. If a state employee made $30,000 in 2010, he or she would need to be making $32,175 this year, just to keep up with inflation. In addition to stagnant salaries, many state employees also have seen their workload increase in recent years because of budget cuts and subsequent staff reductions at many state agencies.

As the economy improves and the job market brightens, the state will find itself increasingly vulnerable to many of its best employees being lured into higher-paying jobs in the private sector. The best employees are likely to go first, which will have an impact on the efficiency of state operations and the level of service they provide to Kansas residents.

Continuing to squeeze state salaries is a penny-wise, pound-foolish strategy. Perhaps legislators simply do want to consider the salary proposal as a “global” issue, but it would be too bad if removing the increases from agency budgets is just part of a strategy to kill the modest raises later.