State officials receive raise

Pay increases automatically take effect by Feb. 1 in odd-numbered years - in this case, yesterday - unless two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote to reject them. House lawmakers voted 96-13 last week to reject the State Officers Compensation Commission report in an attempt to stop the raises.

But the lack of action in the Senate torpedoed the House's hopes of sinking the raises, which will increase Gov. John Engler's salary by nearly a fifth by this time next year.

Leading the charge against pay raises were first-year House members such as Rep. Scott Shackleton (R-Sault Ste. Marie). He said he'll donate his roughly $2,000 annual raise to charities in his district.

House lawmakers will make 3.5 percent more in each of the next two years, raising their salary to $56,981 by 2000, up from the current $53,192. House members, many of them newly elected because of term limits, were generally against the raise.

"We felt we had to do the right thing. The right thing for us was to say no," Shackleton said. "The Michigan House is only one branch of the Legislature. We can't effect change by ourselves, but we did what we could do about it."

Engler will get the biggest raise. He will get annual increases of 9 percent this year and next, raising his pay to $151,245.

Engler spokesperson John Truscott said the governor didn't try to influence the recommendation, but will gladly accept his raise and a 25 percent increase in his personal allowance to $50,000 a year.

"I know what the commission looked at is the Detroit mayor, the county executives and the intermediate school superintendents who make more than the governor, and there was an attempt by them to achieve some pay equity," Truscott said. "(He's) underpaid when compared to other public officials with much less responsibility."

The SOCC was almost as generous in its recommendation for Michigan Supreme Court justices. They will receive a bump of 8 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2000 to a new salary of $140,816.

Truscott said the Supreme Court raises are justified because the court has increased its work load.

The SOCC, which is appointed by the governor, meets every two years and makes recommendations after the year's elections. Newly elected House members argued last week that they couldn't accept raises since they just started their jobs.

"I don't feel it should have happened, but I guess my opinion doesn't matter," said Rep. Andy Neumann (D-Alpena), who like Shackleton plans to donate his raise to charities in his district.

Another first-year House member, Rep. Clark Bisbee (R-Jackson), has introduced a resolution that would do away with the practice of automatically raising officials salaries if they don't vote to reject them.

Bisbee has proposed requiring a majority of legislators to approve salary increases for them to take effect. The resolution also requires that any raise voted on by lawmakers not take effect until the next session so they aren't directly granting themselves a raise.

If that doesn't work, George Hubka, a retired teacher who runs his own title search company in Dowling, plans to circulate petitions to put the issue before voters next year.

Hubka filed petition language with the State Board of Canvassers last week. The petition proposes abolishing SOCC and letting voters decide every two years if pay for top officials and legislators should go up. It would limit raises to the annual increase in the state average weekly wage.

House Speaker Chuck Perricone (R-Kalamazoo Township), voted against the resolution rejecting pay hikes. But he supports Bisbee's idea to change how raises for elected officials are handled.

"The system is in definite need of repair," Perricone said.

02-02-99