GOP plan would cut pay for state politicians
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A group of Republicans in the Minnesota House and Senate want lawmakers and constitutional officers to take a 5 percent pay cut.
The cut would not include lawmakers' per diem expense payments.
Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said the proposal would save the state $676,000 over the next two years.
Michel said lawmakers will have more credibility while trying to solve the state's $4.8 billion budget deficit if they first lead by example and make their own sacrifices.
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"We think it sends an important message," he said. "We think it sets the tone. We're trying to lead and we're trying to lead by example. So our hope is that as these legislative committees and listening sessions and tours go on across the state for the next couple of weeks, that part of that discussion can be a deliberation on this kind of proposal."
The plan would reduce the annual base pay of a state lawmaker from $31,140 to $29,583 a year. Gov. Tim Pawlenty's annual salary would be reduced from $120,303 to $114,288.
Pawlenty said he supports the proposal even if it means a cut in his own pay.
"In government we need to reflect what's going on in the private sector, and in the private sector they're having layoffs and wage freezes, and in some case wage concessions," he said. "We have proposed to freeze wages, but if the Legislature would like to take that further and have a pay cut, that is something I would certainly sign into law if it got to my desk."
DFL legislative leaders, like House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, say they would give the proposal a fair hearing, but they were skeptical.
"The big thing is that legislative pay has been frozen for 12 years and there has been no increase in base pay," Kelliher said. "There have been, occasionally, adjustments in the per diem amounts. It's certainly an idea worth looking at, but there has been no increase in the base pay amount."
It isn't clear that the proposal will receive the full support of Republicans in the Legislature. The chief authors in the House and Senate were careful to note that their proposal does not have the backing of the full caucus.
