At state agencies without a public crisis, workers fear they won't see raises

[TexasTowelie]

The struggle is real for Yolanda White.

She prays every day her car makes it to her job at Lufkin State Supported Living Center. She prays she will be able to afford food and gas until her next payday. And she prays her constant migraine headaches don’t affect her too much. The silver lining to her 2017 so far: being approved for food stamps.

“It’s a little embarrassing, it’s a little depressing, to be at this point in our life and we go to work and give it 110 percent and have to struggle,” said White, 51, who earns a little more than $27,000 a year as a direct support professional at the living center, which is a home for Texans with mental and physical disabilities.

White is one of more than 6,200 state employees receiving food stamps, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. In addition, 11,995 state employees’ children also receive food stamps.

Advocates for state employees hope that lawmakers approve substantial pay raises — including for state workers like White who don't work at an agency that's facing a high-profile crisis. The state's Child Protective Services, for example, is now under intense public scrutiny, and its workers are slated to get $12,000 pay raises.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/02/04/no-scandals-help-state-employees-hope-big-raises/

[font color=330099]When I left state employment in 2000 I moved onto a new job with a pay increase of $10,000 for essentially the same work. Based upon the pay raises that state workers have received since that time and if I had stayed employed I estimate that I would be earning at least $15,000 per year more than if I remained with the state. It was tough to afford my own apartment in Austin during the 1980s on a state salary. Considering the spikes in apartment rents in Austin from the time I left state employment to now it would be virtually impossible for a young person to begin work with the state and afford housing in Austin without a second job, living with roommates or having a second income in the family.[/font]

[greymattermom]

1. Living with roommates is what most young people do

in major cities, especially Boston, New York, San Francisco, etc. And having a second income in the family is living with roommates. In Kansas, state employees expect to never get another raise.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I guess that I was fortunate because I managed to earn enough

money to live on my own when I was 22 and I wasn't that highly paid ($16K back in 1987). My rent was about 30% of my salary after deductions at the time ($1,100/month). Most of my siblings were also able to move out on their own during their younger 20s so I consider abnormal not to be able to finally achieve that level of independence, particularly when someone has a college degree and a full-time job in a professional skilled position.

I don't know what the salary for the lowest paygrade is anymore for state workers, but I doubt that someone would qualify for an apartment in Austin unless they are earning at least $25,000 since most apartments want their tenant's take-home salaries to be at least 3X the rent.

[shraby]

3. She's not alone. Senior citizens need a raise too. One higher than

what they raise for what we pay for medicare