State lawmakers are set to reject their own raises, as well as those of other top officials before the end of the month. Now, there’s a new bill to reshape where these proposed raises originate.
Every four years, the Delaware Compensation Commission meets to decide whether lawmakers, cabinet officials and judges deserve a raise based on salaries in several other states.
The General Assembly must reject the report or the raises kick in automatically.
It’s only been shot down twice since the commission was born in the mid ‘80s - but it appears likely to face that fate again this year amid a projected $350 million budget crunch for fiscal year 2018.
And now the commission itself is being targeted.
Senate Minority Whip Greg Lavelle (R-Sharpley) introduced a bill that would completely gut the panel and leave it up to the budget writing Joint Finance Committee to consider any raises.
A similar proposal from House Minority Leader Danny Short (R-Seaford) would keep the commission, but force lawmakers to vote up or down on the report, but he hasn’t introduced it in bill form.
The House nearly unanimously rejected the report last week. State senators have until the beginning of February to do the same before the raises go into effect.
