Minnesota Republicans Announce Pay Cut Proposal

Saint Paul, Minnesota (RFN)
by Marty Owings

Calling for State Government to get their own house in order amid an economic crisis, Senator Geoff Michel (R-Edina) stated "The legislative branch must be part of the budget solution and before we go through the entire state budget, line by line, we should find savings in our own budget." Minnesota Republican's are responding to a budget deficit that is anticipated to be close to $7 billion.

Republican Dan Severson (Sauk Rapids) said "If we're not willing to put ourselves and our salaries up for debate, then we won't have a lot of credibility among the people we hear from during these meetings." Minnesota law establishes a 16 member Compensation Council to provide salary recommendations for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Sectretary of State, State Auditor, Attorney General and legislators. The Legislature can, if they wish, adopt what the Council recommends, modify recommendations or establish their own pay.

In comparison to other States, Minnesota ranks 16th, paying its Legislators an annual salary of $31,140. California Legislators are paid the most at $113,000 a year. At the low end, South Dakota pays just $6,000. The Republican proposal would reduce pay accross the board by 5%, saving the state roughly $676,441.20 each biennium.

Critics say this looks like its a mostly symbolic gesture since reducing the budget deficit by $670K when it is currently estimated to be north of $7 billion dollars amounts to a drop in the bucket. Furthermore, it would reduce pay by only about $29.96 a week for Legislators. Others say that Law Makers should be spending their time looking at ways to save more critical Government services instead of proposing largely symbolic measures.

The proposal will likely resonate with Minnesotan's who've been forced to tighten their own belts and who are fearful about their jobs and the economy in general. No doubt this will play well on talk radio, its likely to gain any serious support in the DFL controlled Legislature, Lawmakers are struggling with how to reduce the budget in more meaningful ways and still be able to preserve essential services. Sen. Linda Berglin who chairs the Health & Human Services Budget Committee stated flatly "some of the areas he's held harmless are going to have to be on the table." refering to Gov. Pawlenty's budget proposal cuts of $370 million dollars.

In the end, Minnesotan's are not going to be greatly interested in proposals that make good soundbites, but instead solutions to the massive shortfall facing the state and more importantly, how that will impact them directly.

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