Bump legislators' pay to $39,400, panel says

Independent Citizens Commission Vice Chairman Chuck Banks and commission member Barbara Graves backed raises for elected officials Friday. Graves called officials’ current pay an “embarrassment.”
Independent Citizens Commission Vice Chairman Chuck Banks and commission member Barbara Graves backed raises for elected officials Friday. Graves called officials’ current pay an “embarrassment.”

Most Independent Citizens Commission members want to more than double state legislators' salaries.

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Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Members of the Independent Citizens Commission met Friday and voiced support for increasing the pay of state elected officials and will meet Monday to formalize the recommendations.

The people responsible for setting pay also want to give Gov. Asa Hutchinson a raise of more than $50,000 per year.

On Friday, the commission tentatively voted on new salary levels for legislators, judges and the state's constitutional officers.

The group members will meet again Monday and make their official recommendations.

Legislators would see salaries more than double -- going from $15,869 to $39,400 -- and the governor would get a salary increase of more than $50,000 if commission members stick with the figures they set Friday.

Judges and other officeholders would see substantial increases, as well.

The seven-member group, created with the passage of Amendment 94, also voted on recommendations to the state Legislature on expenses. The proposal leaves the legislative branch's mileage and per diem levels untouched but scraps a system of expense reimbursement that commission members said raised too many questions of transparency and has hurt public trust.

Unlike the salary decisions, the group's recommendations to the Legislature are only recommendations, and the Legislature will have the final word.

The recommendations could change Monday, when the commission will formalize the figures and a 30-day public-comment period begins.

On March 5, the commission will meet again to set the final salary levels and submit them to the state auditor's office.

While commission members said they were satisfied with the work that went into the recommendations for the raises, some others were left with mouths agape at the sizes of the salaries endorsed by the commission.

Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, testified before the commission earlier in the month and pleaded with members not to increase legislators' pay for fear the increase would professionalize what historically has been a "citizen legislature."

On Friday, Hendren said he'd expected raises. But not this big.

"I never had any constituent call me and say, 'Hey, we need to double your salary' ... but there are plenty of legislators saying we need to double it. ... We ought not go into the state coffers to help meet someone's individual financial obligations," Hendren said. "This is what happens with freight trains. ... Once you get it rolling, it's hard to control."

Tim Jacob head of Arkansas Term Limits, a group that urged voters to reject Amendment 94, said taxpayers who have struggled since the economic crash of 2008 will be the ones footing the bill.

"It's shameful. The average person in our state has not gotten a raise this year and for government officials to hide, the Legislature, really hide, they hid, behind [Amendment 94 and the commission]. It's a scam and it's a scheme."

Jacob said he has no problems with pay raises for elected officials. But he said the officials shouldn't be afraid to legislate it themselves and let their bosses, the voters, weigh in directly instead of delegating power to a commission.

"If you wanted a raise, just come out and make your case," he said. "Don't be so afraid of the voters that you can't be straight with them."

After weeks spent researching legislative pay in comparable states like Iowa, Oklahoma and Louisiana, commission members said early on that the evolving role of legislators, one moving away from a "citizen legislature" to a more labor intensive job, would lead to a raise.

At the start of the week, a majority of the commission agreed that a raise to $25,000 was appropriate.

Later in the week, after testimony and interactions with the leaders of both legislative chambers, the group settled on a proposal to raise the base salary to account for increases in the consumer price index and adjusting pay for the increased workload of attending fiscal sessions, which started in 2010.

Commission members also agreed to recommend the elimination of office expense reimbursements to ease public distrust of legislators' expense accounts and to cut down on administrative problems posed by those expenses.

On Thursday, House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Senate Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, submitted a letter to the commission saying they agreed with the "wisdom" of removing office expenses and simplifying pay for legislators.

Legislator expenses, which amount to as much as $14,400 a year, were folded into the salary recommendation made Friday, which the commission agreed on with no objections.

A new $39,400 salary for Gillam and $45,000 for Dismang will have a positive effect, commission member Mitch Berry said.

"We're all trying to balance keeping it a 'citizen legislature' and paying them enough that it's fair that anyone could afford to come and do the job," Berry said. "My biggest concern is that very low salaries were excluding a lot of people from running for office who were good [potential candidates]."

Of the seven constitutional officers, the commission recommended substantial pay raises for all but one -- the part-time lieutenant governor for whom the salary is $42,315.

Without much discussion, the commission voted 5-1, with Chairman Larry Ross abstaining, to raise the salary for the governor from $87,759 to $141,000.

On a 4-2 vote, with Ross again abstaining, the group recommended raising the attorney general pay from $73,132 to $130,000.

The group then unanimously recommended raising the salary for the secretary of state from $54,848 to $90,000.

Salaries for the auditor, treasurer and land commissioner are currently $54,848; the commission recommended $85,000.

After the votes, commission member Barbara Graves noted that pay for constitutional officers in Arkansas was nearly the lowest in the country and that it was time to address it.

"What our governor made, and the other officers, was an embarrassment," Graves said. "[Arkansas doesn't] always have to be the poorest or the lowest. Public service doesn't have to be public sacrifice."

On Wednesday and Thursday, the commission decided that Arkansas judges were paid less than judges in similar states.

On Friday, a majority of the commission recommended giving them 11 percent pay increases, but two members objected.

Joined by Graves, Stuart Hill pointed out that the proposed raises would put Arkansas judges ahead of most judges in comparable states like Iowa and Oklahoma.

"The marketplace, to me, is perfect," Hill said. "If we say that we're better than the market, we're saying that the other states, whether it's a legislator or a governor, or a judge, that they're not as smart, they don't work as hard as we do here in Arkansas ... the marketplace tells us what their salaries should be."

By a 4-3 vote, with Ross joining Hill and Graves, the commission recommended raising pay:

Chief justice: from $161,601 to $180,000

Supreme Court justice: from $149,589 to 166,500

Appeals court chief judge: from $147,286 to $164,000

Court of Appeals judge: from $144,982 to $161,500

Circuit judge: from $140,372 to $160,000

Arkansas district judge: from $125,495 to $140,000

Commission staff members pointed out that the proposed raises weren't yet binding and could be adjusted at Monday's meeting.

But on Friday, commission members felt comfortable with the process that produced the figures.

When asked how he thought the public would react to such large pay increases for public officials, Berry said that's what the public comment period will be for.

"I'm sure we'll hear from people happy with it and unhappy with it," Berry said. "That's the nature of the job we took."

Hendren said the public should do just that.

"People are going to be [upset]," Hendren said. "That's why they need to know [that they'll have a chance to weigh in]."

Hours after hearing the recommendations, Gillam said he would have to discuss the commission's recommendations on eliminating expense reimbursements but said that administratively, legislators would do what they'd need to do to honor the commission's requests.

"Based on dialogue [with members in the past] ... we didn't anticipate them going this direction. But they've done their research. And at the end of the day we have to trust their judgment," Gillam said. "[Legislators] feel the commission ... will make a reasonable recommendations. ... If that's the recommendation they give, we will support it."

Members of the public can offer their input on the commission's website: citizenscommission.ar.gov/

The public also can attend the public hearing March 2 at 10 a.m.

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