Have a say in officials' salaries
By PAULA BARR
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:20 AM CST
The 22-member commission will hold public hearings in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield and will accept written comments on the issue of compensation for statewide elected officials, state legislators and state judges. The St. Louis hearing will be held 5-7 p.m. Monday in the St. Louis Old Post Office, Gallery Level, 815 Olive St.
Citizens who want to speak at the hearing should be brief. Written comments may be submitted to Commission Chairman Tim Hufker, in care of Centrics, 2275 Cassens Drive, Suite 130, Fenton, MO 63026. Comments also may be sent by e-mail to thufker@centrics.com.
All comments must be received no later than noon Nov. 25.
All information received will be considered when the commission meets to prepare its schedule of compensation for officials. That meeting, which will be public, has not yet been set. The commission also plans a fourth public hearing, the time and place of which have not been determined.
The Commission was established by the Missouri Constitution to ensure that the power to control the rate of compensation of elected officials is held by taxpayers of the state. Elected state officials, general assembly members, and judges - except municipal judges - may only be compensated for the performance of their duties in the amount that the Commission established for each office.
The Commission’ duty is to study the relationship of compensation to duties and set the salaries of all elected state officials, all legislators, and all but municipal judges. The Commission must publish its schedule of compensation no later than Dec. 1. Unless it is vetoed by a two-thirds vote of each chamber of the legislature, that schedule will take effect July 1, 2009.
For more information about the commission's public hearings and meeting, please contact Mark Levison at (314) 613-2500.
Members of the Commission include 12 members appointed by the governor, no more than six of whom may be from the same political party. Members must include people with experience in personnel management, organized labor, small business, large business, health care, agriculture. One member must be a retired judge appointed by the Supreme Court and two must be 60 years of age or older. Members must include representatives of third-class counties north and south of the Missouri River, and one person from each congressional district must be chosen randomly by the Secretary of State, no more than five of whom may be members of the same political party.
State officials, active judges, state employees, lobbyists or their families may be on the Commission.
Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.
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