Government employees will get a pay raise this year in budget passed by Kansas lawmakers

Kansas government employees are in line for a pay raise this year, but not as big of a raise as lawmakers are getting.

Legislators approved the state budget in Senate Bill 28 on Friday, the last regular day of the legislative session. It passed 78-44 in the House and 26-12 in the Senate.

The state employee pay plan for the 2025 fiscal year, which starts on July 1, 2024, is modeled after last year's pay raises. It is designed to be more beneficial for workers who are paid below market wages.

"My biggest thing is those employees that are considerable under market," said Rep Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker Hill, and the House's top budget negotiator.

"It is pretty startling to see how many employees we have that are under market," Waymaster said. "That's one of my biggest goals, to bring those employees up to market."

State employees get 5% raises while Kansas legislators get 93%

Meanwhile, legislators are in line for a more substantial pay raise. Their play plan, which was crafted by a commission comprised mostly of former legislators, was done in a way that allowed lawmakers to avoid voting on their own pay raise.

Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, complained about budget negotiators stripping out an amendment he proposed that would have forced legislators to vote on their pay raise. The percentage increase of the legislative pay raise depends on what all is included, but total compensation for rank-and-file legislators will be boosted from roughly $30,000 to about $58,000 a year.

Pyle suggested it's not appropriate that "legislators get a 93% pay increase starting new year when the state employees are only getting 5%."

Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland and the Senate's top budget negotiatior, said he agrees that the legislative pay raise is "too much." He admitted that he "didn't fight probably as hard as I could have, but I knew it was not going in there."

More: Kansas lawmakers may see a 94% pay raise. How can that happen?

Pay raises for state employees start at 5%

State employees can expected to see a 5% pay raise, but some may see more while other see less.

The amount of the pay raise depends on a market survey that was used to identify positions that are underpaid relative to similar work in the private sector or for other governmental bodies.

Employees who are currently paid under market by at least 10% will be raised to that 10% mark — unless the 5% increase is greater, and then they would get the 5%.

Employees who are currently paid more than 10% over market will get a 2.5% raise.

Certain employees will get a 5% raise instead of a market adjustment: Capitol area guards, non-judge employees of the judicial branch, employees of legislative agencies and employees with job classifications that are not included in the market survey.

Employees of the Kansas Board of Regents and postsecondary institutions will get a 2.5% raise instead of market adjustments.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Kansas Highway Patrol employees who are on a formal career progression plan will advance five steps, while the bottom five steps will be eliminated.

Any state employee earning less than $15.03 per hour will receive an increase to a new state employee minimum wage of $15.03 per hour.

The pay plan does not include judges, statewide elected officials, legislators, employees of the Kansas StateSchools for the Blind and Deaf, part-time non-benefits eligible employees and employees on a formal career progression plan that are not named in the adjustment plan.

Statewide elected officials got a sizeable pay raise last year.

More: Governor, statewide officials in Kansas to see significant pay raise under new law

How much will the pay raises cost taxpayers?

The state employee pay plan is expected to cost $141 million in total, with $61 million of that from the state general fund. While it's not part of the budget, the legislative pay raise will cost about $3.5 million next year.

The entire 2025 budget is $25.1 billion, with $10.4 billion from the state general fund, which is what lawmakers have direct control over.

The budget includes funding for a wide range of areas, including agriculture, general government, human services, K-12 education, higher education, public safety, transportation and other expenses.

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: How much will the pay raise be for Kansas state government workers?