Legislators in both chambers of the General Assembly and on both sides of the aisle are prepared to reject pay raises for some state officials and judges.
Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate say they will present a resolution Thursday that will outright reject the 2013 Delaware Compensation Commission report.
The report recommended judges receive a six percent bump in pay across the board, phased in over two years. It also called for the Secretaries of Health & Social Services, State, Transportation and a handful of others to get staggered salary increases ranging from 2.3 to 9 percent.
Governor Markell and state lawmakers would not receive a pay raise under the proposal.
The resolution is sponsored by more than 50 of the 62 legislators in the House and Senate. By state law, the General Assembly must reject the report in its entirety within 30 days or the proposed raises automatically go into effect.
Legislative leaders pointed to economic uncertainty as the reason for saying "no" to the raises.
House Majority Leader Valarie Longhurst (D-Bear) voiced her opposition to the recommendation soon after it was released. She says her opposition stems from the combination of four 2009 tax increases scheduled to sunset this year and the limited time the General Assembly has to act on the report.
“We only have 30 days. If it came up in like May or June, it may be a different outcome. We don’t know until we see the budget. So I think the 30 day [requirement] puts you under a lot of pressure to make some decisions quickly and that’s a problem,” said Longhurst.
House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf (D-Rehoboth) says he supports with the spirit of the recommendation, but doesn’t want to place a burden on the state with reoccurring expenses.
“The bottom line is that [with] the revenue that’s projected, I don’t know if we can sustain those kind of increases at this point. And I don’t want to make a decision today for [raises in] 2016,” said Schwartzkopf.
Senate President Pro Tem Patricia Blevins agrees, adding it’s not a comment on the commission’s work, but that the timing just is not right.
Republican leadership echoed many of the same sentiments.
“As legislators, it probably would be easier for us to allow this report to take effect by doing nothing. However, I think the tougher thing is to take charge of this issue and reject this report,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Danny Short (R-Seaford) in the statement. “While the report may be well-intentioned, we don’t have the money at this particular time to commit to this endeavor. To actually put this in place without knowing what the actual revenue numbers are is irresponsible.”
The Compensation Commission started making pay increase recommendations every four years in 1984. Only once before, in 1993, has its proposal been rejected, It's last report was in 2009. At that time the commission, based on the economy, recommended no raises for any officials.
