Lack of action irks salary commission

Members of the state commission charged with recommending salaries for top government officials and judges said Thursday that if lawmakers aren't going to pay attention to their work, there's no point in doing it.

If lawmakers are "never going to step up to the political plate and do this, let's go home," Roger Tew, Utah Executive and Judicial Compensation Commission vice chairman, said during the group's first meeting since most of its recent recommendations were rejected by the 2006 Legislature.

Tew and others on the commission were frustrated that a proposal to boost the salaries of state judges by 7 percent in the budget year that began July 1 was all but ignored by lawmakers.

Instead, judges for the supreme, appellate, district and juvenile courts were given the same 3 percent increase that all state workers received. The commission said extra money was needed to attract better candidates to the bench.

They settled on proposing a 7 percent pay increase for judges annually over three years after hearing from a citizens panel on judicial compensation that a 19 percent hike this year was necessary, especially since more and more sitting judges are nearing retirement.

But less than half of the commission's recommendation was approved despite a record budget surplus that continues to grow. "We're in flush times. The money's there," Tew said.

There wasn't much done about the commission's other recommendations, either.

All but one of the state's elected officials and none of the department heads saw no pay increase at all this budget year. Only Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert is getting more money, thanks to a bill that set the salary for his position at 95 percent of what the governor earns.

"I don't see anything on here that even gets close to what we recommended," commission member George Richards said as he reviewed a report on the Legislature's actions on salaries. "That's the history of this commission."

Members decided they wanted to look at what's happened to their recommendations over the past five years, an analysis that will be done before their next meeting on Oct. 26. The commission is expected to present its annual recommendations to lawmakers in November.

The independent commission, created by the Legislature in 1969, is charged with recommending compensation for the state's elected and appointed executives and the judiciary.

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