AMENDMENT TACKLES STATE PAY CONCERNS

In 1994, Missouri voters added to the Constitution a section creating a new animal in state government called the Citizens' Commission on Compensation of Elected Officials.

This commission is charged with reviewing salaries for everyone from the governor to trial judges -- a total of 584 officials including members of the Legislature -- and drawing up a pay plan every two years. When this plan is submitted to the General Assembly, it becomes effective unless lawmakers affirmatively adopt a resolution rejecting the pay plan during the first legislative month each winter.

The pay commission was created with the idea of taking politics out of the process of setting salaries. It may have been a good theory, but in practice it hasn't worked out well at all. Last year the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that lawmakers must treat everyone in the schedule of pay recommendations equally, meaning if one office gets 100 percent of the recommended salary, so must everyone else.

The 20-member commission holds public hearings around the state, one of which will be in Cape Girardeau Thursday evening at the Holiday Inn. Next to no citizens attend the hearings. A few elected officials do attend. At the commission's hearing in Kirksville, no one showed up to testify.

Before voters at the November election will be proposed Constitutional Amendment No. 3. This amendment would restore to the Legislature some of the power it gave away in passing and sending to the people the mistaken amendment six years ago. If voters approve it, lawmakers will have power to approve different increases for different categories of officials: for associate circuit judges rather than for circuit judges, for example.

The measure would also eliminate the current process in which the pay recommendations go into effect automatically unless disapproved by majority vote of the Legislature within a month of convening.

In fact, creation of this commission involved delegation of the Legislature's power to set salaries to an unelected body. This was a misguided action that has proven to be an unworkable and rather ridiculous charade. We wish lawmakers would send voters yet another constitutional amendment repealing the commission.

In the meantime, passage of Constitutional Amendment No. 3 this Nov. 7 is the best we can do.