No raises for judges, governor or legislators, senators say

The governor, members of the General Assembly and other state elected officials will get no raises for the next five years under resolutions unanimously adopted by the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Friday morning.

The House Appropriations Committee took the same action on the salaries of elected officials Thursday, as reported here.

For the second year in a row, the senators also rejected raises for all the district, circuit and appellate court judges.

Less than 30 minutes after they heard the recommendations of the General Assembly Compensation Commission, senators rejected the proposal to give lawmakers a $2,000 raise to $45,500 in 2013.

There was no discussion or debate before the voice vote. 

“These are tough times,” said Chairman Ulysses Currie, D-Prince George’s County, explaining the quick vote afterwards.

The raises would have only taken effect if the unemployment rate fell to 5 percent or below – a bow by the nine-member compensation commission to the bad economy and to the furloughs and pay freezes state employees are experiencing.

The committee also unanimously rejected the recommendation to give the governor $5,000 raises in 2013 and 2014, bring his pay to $160,000. 

“We did get a statement from the governor” that he didn’t want the raise, Currie said, referring to published reports in December.

--Len Lazarick