By Elizabeth Fields
WPSD Local 6
EDDYVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear wants to give state employees a raise.
In his budget address, he proposed 5 percent raises for anyone making $27,000 or less. Anyone making between 27 and 36-thousand would get a 3 percent raise. According to the Governor’s Office, those two categories alone make up half of the all state employees.
That also makes up a large number of corrections officers who’ve been fighting for increased pay for years.
A current corrections officer estimates approximately 80 percent of people working at the State Penitentiary in Eddyville, Kentucky, would qualify for the highest level of raises. While he says that is a start, he’s not sure it’s enough to get them to stay.
Larry Bland, the President of the Barkley Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, says that they haven’t gotten a raise in the last two budget periods, and the governor’s speech shocked him, to say the least.
Full story: Corrections officers hopeful state-mandated raises