While he’s still reviewing details, Missouri’s powerful Senate Appropriations Committee chairman likes the idea of Governor Mike Kehoe’s proposed $130-million pay increase plan for state employees.
State Sen. Lincoln Hough (R-Springfield) joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Missouri”:
“I do appreciate the priority of people, because when it comes down to it when we have agencies all over the state that our citizens depend on, you need someone there who can get things done,” Senator Hough says.
The governor unveiled his pay plan during this week’s State of the State address. Governor Kehoe says his plan provides funding to support a one percent salary increase for every two years of service, up to ten percent for all state employees. The governor says state employees who work in 24/7 facilities like state prisons and state veterans homes who already have this time of service pay plan will receive a one percent cost of living adjustment. More than 14,000 state employees work in Cole County, making state government Jefferson City’s largest employer.
Meantime, while Kansas lawmakers in both parties have been trying to lure the Chiefs to the Sunflower State, Chairman Hough believes there’s a path forward to keeping the Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals in Missouri. Senator Hough tells listeners that he’s met with Chiefs owner Clark Hunt:
“It’s probably a combination of you know we’ve got departments throughout the state who have a little bit of flexibility in some of the incentives that they’ve got under their purview and it’s probably going to be a collaborative effort to make sure that this gets done,” says Hough.
Kansas lawmakers met last summer in a special session regarding the Chiefs. You can listen to the full “Wake Up” interview with Senator Hough here.
