A state panel formally approved 2.5% raises for some state elected officials on Wednesday -- a total payroll increase of $157,266.
The raises take effect 10 days after the Independent Citizens Commission resolution is filed with the state auditor's office. They are for all 135 members of the Arkansas General Assembly and the state's seven constitutional officers. Judges received their raises in 2019.
The commission settled on 2.5% raises after discussions at several meetings throughout 2019, and it considered the pay bump's cost-of-living adjustments.
None of the affected officials requested pay increases, but one -- Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin -- did ask the commission to omit his raise.
The commission briefly discussed the Little Rock Republican's request, but it unanimously decided to raise Griffin's salary anyway.
"The increase we're making is for the office of the lieutenant governor, not the person in the office," Commission Chairman Chuck Banks, a Little Rock attorney, said, noting that he respected Griffin's request.
The commission was created by Amendment 94 to the Arkansas Constitution after voters approved it in 2014. The state Legislature previously set the salaries of constitutional officers, lawmakers and the judiciary.
The commission voted in 2019 to give 2.5% raises to Arkansas' 194 judges and 28 elected prosecutors, as well as $2,500 pay increases to the seven Supreme Court justices and 12 Court of Appeals judges. The judicial branch raises totaled more than $946,300.
Altogether, the commission approved $1.1 million in raises for the elected officials in the three branches of state government.
In 2018, the commission raised the salaries of all of the state's elected officials -- including the judicial branch -- by 3%, totaling about $1.23 million. It also gave raises in 2017 after skipping any salary adjustments in 2016.
In fiscal 2020, which started July 1, executive-branch agencies were authorized to spend 2.4% more on performance-based salaries for their employees.
Griffin said in a Wednesday statement that the law should be changed to allow state officials to decline pay raises.
"I understand and respect the Commission's decision," Griffin said through a spokesman. "Unfortunately, state law forces me to accept the pay increase instead of allowing me to work at my current salary--we should change that. Saving taxpayer money shouldn't be this hard."
The other constitutional officers affected by the pay increases are the governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and land commissioner.
Those officials and legislative leaders have mostly been quiet on the proposed raises, either declining to comment or saying that they respect and defer to the commission.
The commission took formal action Wednesday after a monthlong public-comment period on the raises, although, no members of the public responded, according to commission staff members.
One man, Robert May of Baxter County, commented on the judicial raises approved earlier in 2019, objecting to the 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment.
"Senior citizens only received [a] 1.6[%] cost of living increase this year, so what makes these judges any better than senior citizens?" May said in a phone call to commission staff members.
The commission had discussed approving additional raises for some constitutional officers to bring their salaries more in line with their counterparts in neighboring and similar size states. Commissioners reviewed a salary comparison that included constitutional officers from Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Arkansas' governor and attorney general earn more than their counterparts in all of those states except Tennessee, where the governor and attorney general are paid $190,116 and $185,064, respectively, according to the commission's data.
Arkansas' secretary of state, auditor and treasurer are paid well below their counterparts in those five states.
The commission did not take action to give those positions additional raises this year.
Arkansas' lieutenant governor is paid much less than the lieutenant governors in those five states. In Arkansas, lieutenant governor is a part-time position.
Of those five states, only Missouri has a land commissioner, who is paid $141,640.
Metro on 01/23/2020