Bill to give state employees annual pay raise introduced

Kentucky state employees an annual pay raise

FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – A bill to resume the practice of giving Kentucky state employees an annual pay raise has been introduced for the 2022 General Assembly, by the House member in whose district the Capitol is located.

“The state used to give five percent raises annually, but that stopped 20 years ago,” said Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort.  “Our state employees stood with us as we dealt with multiple recessions and other rising costs, and I saw those sacrifices first-hand as state representative for Frankfort, the heart and home of state government.”

Graham says he believes the time is right to reward the workers.  “During the past 22 months, they have more than proven how essential they are by continuing to do an outstanding job during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Now that the state is seeing budget reserves nearing $3 billion, it’s time we help those who have done so much to help all of us.  These annual five percent raises would do just that.”

Provision of the legislation would apply to all three branches of state government, and in addition to the state tax dollars, the bill also would set aside $115 million over the two fiscal years in federal, restricted and road money, reflecting the fact that many state employees are paid from those funds as well.

“There’s no question we have the money, and there’s no question about its need,” said. Graham, who also serves as the Democratic Caucus Chair.  “If we don’t provide these raises, we risk losing more employees to the private sector, which will make it that much tougher for state government to serve the commonwealth.  The question is not whether we can afford to provide this salary increase, but whether we can afford not to.”

As of Friday, the measure had not yet been assigned to a committee.