For some Missouri state workers still frustrated by years of no pay raises and, on average, being the lowest-paid state government workers in the nation, a legislative committee formed to study a long-term salary plan is a waste of time.
However, state Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City and the Joint Committee's vice chairman, said: "It is not really a panel meeting to say, "Can we afford, or do we give, state employees a pay raise next year?'
"It's really about a 10-, 15- or, maybe, a 20-year plan that we can try to map out and follow, so that folks who come to work for the state can understand what their career path can be, and what their compensation can be."
He acknowledged state government currently has a written pay plan, with a pay grid and a number of steps, but called its complexity "ridiculous" and "not good for state employees."