“We always hear legislators say how much they appreciate state employees and that’s all fine and good, but you know what—they need to pay them and retain them. There’s $120 million dollars worth of turnover rate. State employees are getting tired of saying ‘we appreciate you, we appreciate you’—that can just go so far. You need to compensate them appropriately.”
– Sterling Zearley, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association, calling for a $7,500 raise for all state employees (Source)