NCSL helps Minnesota with staff salaries.

• Position: National Conference of State Legislatures

The current job market is tight for employers seeking to fill all types of positions. In recruiting staff, legislatures face rising salaries and smaller pools of applicants with the requisite job skills. This is a particular problem in the information technology area where skilled staff are in very high demand. Legislatures must compete with other government agencies and private firms, many of whom can offer higher salaries.

NCSL worked with the Minnesota House, Senate and Legislative Coordinating Commission to review the Legislature's jobs, assess the salaries for similar jobs in the market and recommend actions the Legislature could take to stay competitive.

The NCSL study team reviewed job descriptions for the Legislature's information technology positions, interviewed the current staff, compared salaries for similar positions in the market and developed a series of recommendations for action. They found that salaries were below market for similar positions in the Twin Cities area.

The study team recommended that the Legislature continue hiring above the minimum of its salary ranges for information staff, raise salaries for some positions to make them more competitive with government salaries in the Twin Cities, and conduct annual salary reviews to stay competitive...