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Most Americans know the United States is in a budget crisis and government officials are trying to figure ways to fix this problem.

The latest Rasmussen Report indicates 41-percent of Americans favor a 10-percent pay cut for all state employees to balance the books.

KRCG's Facebook Crew talked with Missouri state workers about that.

"It's been established that Missouri employees are at the absolute bottom of the barrel in pay nationwide,” Missouri Corrections Officers Association Gary Gross.

A Rutgers University study said Missouri state employees are among the lowest paid state workers.

The average salaries of Show-Me State workers are 24-percent below the national average.

"Missouri has failed to appropriate the funds to give to state employees their within grade pay raises,” Gross said.

Gross said most state workers could not survive a pay cut.

"If you take the average 10-percent cut that these people are asking for, some state workers would be welfare recipients in many cases,” Gross said.

Most all the state employees I talked with Thursday agreed with Gross, that they're the lowest paid state employees in the United States and they do not want a pay cut.

"The math just doesn't work. I don't see how taking money out of people's pockets is going to fix the economy. I think the problem is much larger than cutting state pay by ten-percent. I don't think that would be more than just a drop in the bucket,” Missouri state worker said.

"I think it's a terrible idea. We're the lowest paid state workers in the nation and we can barely make ends meet right now with what I bring in. I just think it would be a terrible idea, personally,” Missouri state employee said.

State workers are not the only ones who think a pay cut is a bad idea.

So does Senator McCaskill.

"You don't gravitate to public service for big dollars. I'm very proud of the state workers in Missouri. I think the folks that are saying this on a survey are just frustrated with our current economy, and sometimes it's easiest to blame the government,” U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said.

Tell us what you think about the Rasmussen survey.

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A new poll released shows that 41-percent of Americans think state workers' pay should be lowered.

Coming up tonight at ten KRCG's Facebook Crew talks with Mid-Missouris to find out what they think about state workers pay.

So tell us what you think. Should state workers pay be lowered?