(Photo by Stephen Koranda)Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is proposing a 1.5 percent pay raise for classified state employees. It's one of the budget amendments he's suggesting for next fiscal year. Interim Budget Director Jon Hummell told the Senate's budget committee that the Republican governor has always wanted a smaller, better-paid state workforce.
Senator Laura Kelly, from Topeka, is the top Democrat on the Senate’s budget committee. She is greeting the proposal with a degree of skepticism.
Hummell says that if the proposal is approved, it would be the first time all classified state employees have received a raise in several years.