Print edition: 
TOPEKA — State employees shouldn't expect bigger paychecks this year, Republican legislative leaders told a group of businesspeople Friday.
"It would be highly unlikely that there will be pay increases," Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, said at the Kansas Chamber's Legislative and Congressional Summit.
Emler, who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee, spoke along with House Appropriation Committee Chairman Kevin Yoder of Overland Park, Senate President Stephen Morris of Hugoton and House Speaker Mike O'Neal of Hutchinson.
Lawmakers are telling state agencies how much to cut but not how to go about decreasing costs, Emler said.
O'Neal suggested the state look at its highest paid workers for the cuts. That way the lowest paid state workers would not be harmed, he said.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to plug a $400 million gap in the 2011 state budget, which begins July 1. Gov. Mark Parkinson has said the state cannot afford to cut more. He proposed a three-year, 1-percentage-point increase in the state sales tax and an increase on cigarettes and tobacco products taxes.
The tax increases have met with a tepid response.
Friday, the legislative leaders also suggested Kansas could reduce costs by reducing government and finding efficiencies in existing systems.
Yoder pointed to a recent legislative post audit that found $1 million in savings that could be found at a school district and another about reducing the number of district judges.
"One of the best ways for savings is to reduce waste," he said.
Morris also sees the potential for reductions in local government — there are 4,000 units of local government, he noted.
"It's sort of over the top," he said.
It would be a hard political fight, but maybe Kansas could do with fewer levels of government such as townships, he said.
