No pay increases for Minn. lawmakers this year
Minn. lawmakers won't vote on their own pay in current session after Senate provision dropped
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Pay increases for Minnesota lawmakers won't be happening this legislative session.
Legislative negotiators finalized a budget bill Sunday covering various state agency operations and government operations. It does not include a provision passed previously in the Senate that would have given lawmakers a nearly $10,000 a year raise by 2015, and another bump the year after that on their current salaries of $31,000 a year.
The Senate's vote generated some controversy. It also spawned an alternate plan, passed Friday in the House, which would put a constitutional amendment on the 2016 ballot asking voters to create an independent council to set lawmaker pay. The Senate could vote on that amendment Sunday or Monday.
The final state agency budget bill does include pay hikes for the governor and other statewide elected officials, as well as state agency managers. Final votes on the package are likely late Sunday or Monday.
