Lawmakers propose cost-of-living raise for state workers, besting Beshear’s offer
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing a long-delayed pay raise for roughly 33,000 state workers that would top the one that Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear included in his budget plan.
The House State Government Committee on Thursday unanimously approved House Bill 143, which would provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment for state workers based on the Consumer Price Index that began at 2.25 percent.
Beshear has recommended an annual 1 percent raise for state workers in each year of his two-year budget.
“An organization is only as good as its workforce. And we are losing a lot of talented people to employers who pay more,” said state Rep. Joe Graviss, D-Versailles. “We have got to be able to keep the expertise that we need to serve our constituents in the commonwealth.”
The House bill has a catch: The cost-of-living adjustments depend on enough money being available in the state budget. The estimated cost over the next two years could exceed $150 million, although some federal money, Road Fund revenues and other sources could be tapped to reduce the stress on the state’s General Fund.
Several members of the House committee on Thursday said they are committed to making the raises happen in the next fiscal year, starting July 1.
Officially, Kentucky law requires state workers to get 5 percent annual raises, but the legislature has waived that requirement every year since 2001, said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville. The last time state government’s workforce saw any salary increase across the board was in 2015, when they were given a 1 percent raise, Tipton said.
Fourteen lawmakers from both parties are co-sponsoring the bill with Tipton.
State Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said he was frustrated during his past tenure as director of the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts because he could not pay his several thousand employees what they were worth.
“They put in a great deal of time for Kentuckians and they each year fell further and further behind on what they made,” Nemes said. “This is important legislation. I hope when we’re drafting the budget this year ... that we work very diligently to try and get this in there for employees in the executive branch and judicial and legislative.”
The average salary in state government is $45,984 a year, according to the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet. Over the last decade, as state wages have stagnated, the Consumer Price Index has increased by 19.5 percent.
State agencies have had a hard time attracting qualified job applicants in this environment, especially for positions that are competitive in the private sector, Transportation Cabinet branch manager Brent Sweger told the House committee.
“With the passage of House Bill 143, this will set the stage for the legislature to be able to budget for the next two years a fair cost-of-living increase for workers who do so much for our state and who have sacrificed for so long,” said Sweger, who is an engineer.
“This will really help us as state employees to attract and retain the talented people workforce that we need,” Sweger said. “This is something that we’ve struggled with for the last decade.”
The bill proceeds to the House, although because it deals with the state budget, it is likely to be sent to the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee for further discussion.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 4:30 PM.
