State pay raises face funding challenges

Try this: Ask people you know if you think they deserve a pay raise. Then, if you're working for a living, ask yourself if you think you should get a raise.

Chances are that 100 percent of the responses to these questions would be a resounding yes.

That's what Missouri's Citizens Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials does. It holds hearings around the state (one was in Cape Girardeau) and asks state-compensated officials -- legislators, judges and other top officials including the governor -- if they think their salaries should go up. They always say yes.

Based on those findings, the compensation commission is charged with making a recommendation. This year, the commission has recommended $5.6 million in pay increases. Unless the Missouri Legislature rejects the plan, it becomes effective. However, actually getting a pay raise would depend on legislative authorization of funding for the raises. The commission's previous pay schedule was allowed to take effect, but it was never funded.

In case you're wondering why the commission would recommend pay raises at a time when the state faces funding shortfalls of hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain current spending levels, here's the answer:

The commission's task is only to decide if pay raises are warranted. It is not responsible for balancing the budget.

This is not the time for a pay increase.