The Missouri House has approved a resolution that has the effect of rejecting the report of a state commission on compensation for legislators, statewide elected officials, and judges.
The resolution, sponsored by Representative Mike McGhee (R-Odessa) was approved on a 129-31 vote after more than an hour and a half of debate. It is now before the Senate. The Missouri Constitution states that the commission’s report takes effect unless it is rejected by two-thirds’ majority votes of both the House and the Senate. And, rejection from both chambers must come by February 1st.
The Senate, should it approve the resolution with the necessary votes, would end the matter for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, with no raises for people serving in the positions covered by the panel’s report. But failure to approve is no guarantee the judges and elected officials will receive pay raises as the increases are contingent on raises being given to state workers. The thinking among many state workers is that with a poor economy the chances of pay increases in the coming year are not good.