Economy

Desperate for workers, states allocate big raises

Most states have approved or considered state employee raises over the last two years.

Sophie Quinton

12:50 PM, May 04, 2023

FILE – Clark County Sheriff and Nevada Gov.-elect Joe Lombardo gives a victory speech, with his wife, Donna Lombardo, left, and daughter, Morgan Lombardo, looking on during a news conference on Nov. 14, 2022, in Las Vegas. Lombardo is set in his State of the State address Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, to expand on plans for increased school choice and a potential raise for Nevada state employees, weeks after taking office on a pledge to work with the Democrat-run Legislature. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt, File)

With more than one in five Nevada state government jobs sitting empty, agencies there are failing to provide services taxpayers expect.

The transportation department has cut back on snow and trash removal. State troopers no longer patrol highways around the clock. When a prison inmate slipped past an unmanned guard tower and escaped last fall, it took four days for corrections officials to even notice he was gone.

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