Alex Acosta, a janitor at CU-Boulder, holds 5-month-old Mariah, as his other children Brian, 10, Alejandra, 8, and Brittnea, 2 play in the backyard of their Longmont home. Acosta said his family had to rely on food banks at times in the past year. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post )

In an economy where private-sector workers have seen layoffs, furloughs and cuts to their pay and benefits, Colorado state employees' jobs have remained relatively stable and their benefits — especially their pensions — have stayed comparatively generous.

That's not to say state workers haven't taken hits in the recession. They have not gotten pay raises for the past three years, they were furloughed for eight days in fiscal year 2009-10 and the state has made them pay a greater share of their pension costs. And the state workforce has been diminished in some areas while workload has increased.

Pay and benefits of government workers are being scrutinized nationally amid the battle in Wisconsin and elsewhere over public workers' benefits.

"I think the broader story is that government workers have fared much better than their counterparts in the private sector," said House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch. "When you look at the sacrifices that the folks in the private sector have made — Coloradans that have had pay cuts, business owners that have gone without salaries to meet payroll — that same type of sacrifice has not been seen among government workers."