LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sara Huckabee Sanders proposed a $102 million overhaul of the pay plan for state employees on Tuesday, a change his office said will increase compensation for more than 14,000 state workers.

The Republican governor detailed the planned reform, which she said will be part of the balanced budget proposal she plans to present to lawmakers later this month.

Sanders said the changes are intended to bring state employees up to comparable salaries in the private sector and are aimed at positions that face chronic shortages, such as correctional officers, state police, nurses and social service workers.

“We’re taking the existing pay plan to its full potential to rebuild a compensation system that rewards hard work and encourages Arkansans to apply for our hardest-to-fill positions,” Sanders said. “I look forward to working with the Legislature to pass this plan and implement these long-needed reforms for our state employees.”

About $60 million of the annual cost of the payment plan will come from general revenue, while the rest will come from other sources, such as savings from existing vacancies. Sanders said he has asked agency heads to first consider funding the plan through their existing budgets.

The proposal also reduces the number of jobs from about 2,200 to just over 800. It also expands the number of salary tables to six.

The proposal comes as public employers across the U.S. they have fought to fill jobs and have raised wages to try to retain and attract workers amid competition from the private sector.