Topeka — A bill to create a commission with the power to increase pay for legislators and elected officials won tentative House approval Thursday.
The legislation is an attempt to address some legislators' longstanding concerns that they are underpaid. They receive about $21,000 a year as base compensation, about two-thirds of which is supposed to cover expenses related to serving in the House or Senate.
Under the bill, a nine-member commission would be appointed by May 1 of this year and, by June 15, would fix salaries for legislators and recommend salaries for other elected state officials.
The legislative salaries would take effect July 1. The recommended pay for other officials would await a vote of the Legislature.
House members considered such a proposal earlier, but it was tethered to a proposal to ease lobbyist disclosure requirements and failed.
The House advanced the new bill on a voice vote. Final action is scheduled for today, and passage would send it to the Senate.
"It'll be very close," said Rep. Tony Powell, R-Wichita, chairman of the House Ethics and Elections Committee.
Although many legislators complain about their pay, they've been unable to pass a significant pay increase because too many fear negative reaction from their constituents.
The Legislature created a compensation commission in 1998, but its proposals must be approved by lawmakers, and they have failed to do so.
"I am tired of us beating ourselves up every year on this," said Rep. Laura McClure, D-Osborne.
McClure and other supporters of the bill contend that low pay discourages good candidates from seeking legislative seats. They say it's especially true for attorneys, engineers, other professionals and the owners of small businesses, and they worry that a growing number of retirees and wealthy Kansans are filling the House and Senate.
But some legislators see the proposed commission, with its power to set pay, as tantamount to approving a pay increase. Rep. Carl Krehbiel, R-Moundridge, said he cannot vote for the bill until legislators make sure teachers, police and other government workers are paid properly.
The commission's members would be appointed by legislative leaders, Gov. Bill Graves, Atty. Gen. Carla Stovall, Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger and Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius.
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