Alaska Legislature votes against inflation-adjusted pay rates for top officials
Snow falls on the Alaska State Capitol on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska House of Representatives voted 36-0 on Friday to reject a proposal that would peg legislative salaries and the pay of other top state officials to inflation.
The vote on Senate Bill 87 follows a 19-0 vote by the state Senate on Feb. 7 and puts lawmakers on the verge of rejecting an automatic inflation adjustment that had been proposed by a state commission earlier this year.
Unless Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoes SB 87, its enactment will negate the recommendations of the State Officers Compensation Commission. Those recommendations automatically take effect unless disapproved by the Legislature.
Alaska's governor currently is paid approximately $176,000 per year in salary. The lieutenant governor's salary is approximately $140,000, and the salaries of state commissioners — in charge of agencies — are approximately $168,000 per year. State legislators receive $84,000 per year in salary.
This year, the commission recommended that those figures all be automatically adjusted for inflation, with the first adjustment to take place after the 2026 election.
Members of the commission said they wanted to keep legislative and executive-branch service affordable for members of the public, and automatic adjustments would remove the need for large, occasional increases in salaries.
No other state employees receive automatic pay increases outside of the Legislature's annual budget process, though the state does negotiate multiyear contracts with workers.
Legislators said they don't believe it makes sense to increase salaries when the state is facing significant budget pressure.
'Given our fiscal situation, we cannot allow pay raises for ourselves, department heads, lieutenant governor and governor to go into effect,' said Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak.
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