Hartford - The Republican leaders of the Connecticut General Assembly called on Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Thursday to support their efforts to end the practice of making payments for longevity on the job to certain veteran state employees.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney and House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero asked Malloy in a letter to back an amendment the minority party plans to propose that would eliminate the special bonuses for nonunion state employees. Malloy has criticized the special twice-a-year payments, which begin after a state workers has 10 years on the job, saying they are a luxury the state cannot afford.

Malloy has encouraged the legislature to take up the issue and send him a bill.

Roy Occhiogrosso, the governor's senior adviser, said Malloy appreciated the lawmakers' support of his desire to "bring long overdue reform" to compensating state employees for time spent on the job rather than productivity.

"To be effective, however, reform has to be well thought through and must apply across the board to all state employees," said Occhiogrosso, adding how the leaders' letter did not pass that test.

Malloy has already cut the bonuses for some members of his staff, but the payments were not scrapped in the budget deal reached between the administration and majority Democrats.

Colleen Flanagan, Malloy's spokeswoman, said the governor is interested in talking to legislators to see if they can get something done in the coming weeks. The legislative session ends on June 8. She said Malloy believes it is possible the issue of longevity pay could come up during the continuing, closed-door talks between the state employee unions and the administration.

Malloy is seeking $1 billion in labor savings in each year of the two-year, approximately $40 billion budget, to help cover a deficit that's projected to be about $3.3 billion as of July 1.

The Association of Managerial Employees in the Connecticut State Service is reaching out to state managers, urging them to contact their state lawmakers and "ask them to support equal treatment of nonunion managers in state service and union protected state employees," according to a flier obtained by The Associated Press.

The letter was sent on April 13.

"Connecticut's legislators may not understand that longevity is paid to both non-union managers and all union staff. The difference is the union staff have their longevity payments protected through their contracts. Managers have no such protections," according to the flier.

The association said it has "grave concerns about the viability of the managerial class in Connecticut state government" and urged managers to join the group's ranks. The association is currently backing a perennial bill this session that would secure collective bargaining rights for managers.

The association is an affiliate of the Connecticut State Employees Association.

McKinney said more than 30,000 state workers, both unionized and nonunionized, on April 22 received one of two longevity payments. The second is scheduled for Oct. 1. McKinney said it costs the government $40 million a year to make these special payments to workers who've been on the job for 10 years or longer. The amounts increase after an employee hits his or her 15th, 20th and 25th anniversaries with the state.

While payments for unionized workers are smaller and capped, typically ranging from $75 to about $1,000, payments to nonunion managers can be thousands of dollars more. For example, the former chancellor of the Connecticut State University system in 2009 received more than $24,000 in longevity payments.

Matt O'Connor, a spokesman for CSEA, said the union believes there are currently too many managers in state government and supports reclassifying some as unionized workers, making them front-line employees. If that happens, O'Connor said those workers' longevity payments would be smaller and capped.

Meanwhile, if lawmakers pass the pending legislation allowing managers to unionize, he said those employees could theoretically negotiate a new, more consistent wage structure that might not include the special bonuses. Supporters of the longevity payments have said they are necessary to encourage people to apply for management positions.