The Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature is considering proposals to restrict public employee unions and potentially shrink the state’s civil service.

GOP lawmakers who support the changes up for debate Tuesday argue that they’ll give state agencies more flexibility and allow them to operate more like private companies.

Critics see an attack on public employee unions that often support Democrats.

The House was debating a bill to make it easier to move state jobs out of the civil service, where workers have greater job protections than political appointees.

The Senate was taking up a bill to restrict bargaining between state agencies and public employee unions to minimum pay.

The same measure would bar state and local government agencies and school districts from deducting union dues directly from their workers’ paychecks.