Missouri lawmakers and statewide elected officials will receive annual pay raises of 2.5% each year for the next two years, the first such raises to make it through the legislature since 2008.
The salary hikes come after the Missouri House of Representatives failed to pass a resolution Thursday that would have prevented the raises from going into effect. House members voted 97-11 to reject the increase, but that tally did not meet the two-thirds majority of the 163-member body required to pass.
Under the Missouri Constitution, pay scales must be set every two years by the independent Missouri Citizens’ Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials. The commission’s recommendations automatically take effect Feb. 1 unless rejected by two-thirds majorities in both chambers.
For the past dozen years, however, lawmakers have rejected the commission’s recommended pay scales, which determine salaries for House and Senate members, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor and state treasurer. Many legislators view the rejections of those modest pay hikes as symbolic gestures meant to curry favor with constituents in their home districts.
Even if the resolution, filed by Rep. Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering, had passed in the House, there would not have been sufficient time for it to pass in the Senate before the Monday deadline, with the upper chamber out of session until Monday.
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