Bills filed to give state workers pay raises, expand family courts

Measures among dozens filed as Legislature opens

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Bills to expand access to family courts and give state workers a significant pay raise are among dozens of pieces of legislation filed in the first days of the new legislative session.

With the state revenues seeing unprecedented growth, Kentucky House Democratic Caucus Chair Derrick Graham said it is “past time to give our state workers what they deserve: A raise.”  His legislation – House Bill 209 – would make that possible by budgeting $163 million in state dollars for the next two years.

“The state used to give five percent raises annually, but that stopped 20 years ago,” Rep. Graham said.  “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.  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.”

House Bill 209 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,” Rep. Graham said.  “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.”

Representative DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, has filed legislation regarding judicial redistricting, which would rebalance workloads for district judges.

“Currently, there are workload imbalances affecting district judges throughout the commonwealth. And because of this there is a need to rebalance where there are critical shortages,” said Representative Johnson. “As we grow and populations shift, we have found that there are far too many workload disparities throughout our state’s district courts, specifically family court judges.”

HB 214 is meant to address judicial workload disparities and rebalance those workloads. It would specifically address the shortages in family court judges and add seats where they are needed the most. In 2015, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), at the request of the General Assembly, found these critical imbalances. The General Assembly acknowledged these results. Rep. Johnson’s bill would specifically address the AOC’s findings and balance workloads, making it easier for judges to hear important court cases for Kentucky families.

“My bill addresses the most critical aspects of a statewide issue. There is a growing need for family court district judges, and the bill would address that specific issue. By using findings from the AOC, we can determine which districts need more judgeships,” Johnson added. “This does not fix the entire problem, but it is a step in the right direction to develop a fully comprehensive plan in the future.”

HB 214 will be considered during the 2022 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly.