Brownback expected to increase pay for prison workers

Gov. Sam Brownback is expected to raise pay for prison workers, a top Republican senator said ahead of a Thursday announcement.

"It’s my understanding that they’re going to try to use some existing resources to provide some pay increases," said Sen. Carolyn McGinn, the chairwoman of the Senate budget committee. "Long-term, though, we will as a Legislature have to be helpful in that process when we get back."

Other House and Senate leaders said they did not know what Brownback would announce when he speaks Thursday afternoon at El Dorado Correctional Facility. But they said they would not be surprised if it were a pay increase.

The governor’s office has not disclosed what he will say.

The prison in El Dorado and another in Lansing have had high staff vacancies. The Kansas Department of Corrections has declared the staffing shortage at El Dorado an emergency, and the prison has experienced multiple episodes of inmate unrest this summer.

McGinn, of Sedgwick, said she did not know how large the raises would be.

Rep. Troy Waymaster, the chairman of the House budget committee, said he had “had conversations with the budget director for the state of Kansas in regards to pay increases for correctional officers," though he did not know what the announcement would be.

Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, didn’t have knowledge of what Brownback will do. She said she wants to see how large an increase is planned.

"Five to 10 percent is just not enough. It won’t make a difference. We have to go higher than that," Kelly said.

If Brownback announces he intends to act to increase pay, that would follow suggestions from House Democrats and Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita. Wagle said she doesn’t know what Brownback will do, but added she is thankful he plans to do something.

"I hear a lot about that in Wichita. We don’t even have a prison in Wichita – we have a prison in El Dorado and Hutch – but there’s a lot of talk about the unrest in our prisons and certainly I think it needs to be addressed," Wagle said.

Kansas Department of Corrections officers make a starting salary of $29,016 a year. By contrast, Colorado and Iowa both pay starting salaries above $40,000 and Nebraska pays a starting salary above 34,800, according to the agency.

At federal facilities, pay for corrections officers ranges between $40,511 and $53,702, according to a federal jobs site.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Brownback expected to increase pay for prison workers."