House members reject proposed pay increase

Anthony Brown
Rep. Allen Andrews

House members came together in bipartisan fashion this week to overwhelmingly reject a proposed pay increase for elected officials and judges. The House approved a resolution that would prevent the pay increase recommendations made by the Citizens’ Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials from going into effect. Personally, I feel strongly that since the hard-working people back home are not getting a pay raise I certainly cannot justify the fairness in giving one to myself.

The commission meets every two years according to the state constitution to set the compensation for state officials. Once the commission makes its recommendation, it automatically goes into effect unless the legislature rejects the proposal before February 1. It takes a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to keep the increases from going into effect.

In rejecting the increase, House members agreed it is not appropriate to increase their own pay. They also said the difficult budget situation faced by the state this year makes it even more important to ensure taxpayer dollars are saved for priority items such as education and services for Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens.

The legislation has already moved to the Senate where it is expected to move quickly in order to receive final passage early next week ahead of the deadline.

As always, it is a privilege to represent you.

Allen Andrews is the First District State Representative.