Ohio lawmakers would not be able to set their own pay and that of other elected officials under legislation passed Thursday in the Ohio Senate.
Unlike a proposal passed by the House late Thursday, the Senate plan does not make any changes to elected officials’ current salaries.
The Senate unanimously voted to establish a nine-member commission to review officials’ pay every other year beginning in 2015. Lawmakers could reject the commission’s proposal by a three-fifths vote of the General Assembly.
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The Ohio Constitution grants authority to set officials’ pay to the General Assembly. Establishing a commission in the Constitution would require voters’ approval in 2015.
“I think it’s the time and the place to take politicians and politics out of pay for elected officials,” said Senate President Keith Faber, a Celina Republican who sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 9. “This prohibits elected officials from setting and approving their own compensation.”
Elected officials, recent political candidates and lobbyists would not be eligible to be appointed to the commission. Commission members would have to justify any raises that would exceed the lesser of 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index, which was 1.7 percent in October. Lawmakers would be able to reject the compensation plan with a three-fifths vote of the General Assembly.
The Ohio Judicial Conference supported having an independent commission set pay but urged lawmakers Thursday to also enact the pay raises proposed in the House to address the issue in the short term.
Justices on Ohio’s highest court earn less than those in 36 states, according to the National Center for State Courts, which has tracked judicial officer pay for nearly 30 years. Ohio ranked No. 32 for pay for appellate court judges and No. 43 for common pleas judges.
State lawmakers last approved pay raises and a cost-of-living adjustment in 2000 and did not renew the annual increases in 2008. State and county elected officials haven’t received raises or cost-of-living increases since then. Without an increase before the end of the year, they will continue to earn the same for another four years.
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