Legislative committee wants details for pay raise proposal

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – A legislative Budget Review Subcommittee heard Wednesday from the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet about the Executive Branch Employee Compensation Plan.

The committee heard from the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet about the classification and compensation system for evaluating executive branch job requirements.

State law requires the executive branch to develop a compensation plan based on a nationally-recognized system for evaluating job requirements.

The Kentucky Personnel Cabinet contracted with the Korn Ferry human resource firm, formerly known as the Hay Group. Lawmakers further emphasized the need for this data in the current budget.

Current state law requires employees receive a 5 percent wage increase each year. The amount is frequently called unsustainable and is more often than not tabled when budget is passed.

Executive Branch employees have not received an annual increment since 2015. The Governor proposed a 1 percent increment for all state employees during the 2021 budget, but the General Assembly did not approve.

Representative Jason Petrie, House Chair of Appropriations and Revenue Committee commented that approaching the issue of pay with a generic 1 percent raise is an insufficient and inadequate approach given the complexity of the issue.

“An across the board raise approach is not enough. We need a more strategic approach to invest our tax dollars. What is the plan? What is the pay scale that should be given in order to compete with other states and private entities?” he said.

Petrie requested the cabinet to present him with the data comparison and wage increase proposal by September 1.

The committee also heard from the Kentucky Public Pensions Authority with an update on HB 8, which changed the funding method for the Kentucky Employee Retirement System (KERS).

Under the terms of the bill, KERS nonhazardous employers will base their contribution rate on their actual pension liability, rather than a percentage of payroll.

For full details of the meeting, visit legislature.ky.gov or follow the link here for the meeting materials. To watch the meeting, visit the Legislative Research Commission YouTube page here.