Kansas lawmakers are considering proposals to give state workers a modest pay increase...and end their guaranteed longevity bonuses.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee reviewed budget issues on Tuesday that lawmakers will face when they wrap up their work for the year next week.
The committee took no action.
Governor Sam Brownback has proposed a 1.5 percent pay raise for employees in the civil service. It would be the first across-the-board pay raise since 2009.
The Senate committee and its House counterpart have alternative proposals.
Theirs include more modest pay raises, and they’d end a requirement that state agencies pay longevity bonuses to employees who have been with the state for 10 years or longer.
Such workers receive an additional $40 for each year they’ve worked, up to $1,000 a year.
The Kansas Organization for State Employees opposes ending that practice. Their Executive Director Rebecca Proctor says workers see their guaranteed longevity bonuses as the only thing they can rely on when lawmakers have not approved across-the-board pay raises.
