Legislative committee introduces a slate of draft bills including $17,000 judicial pay increase; all motions carried

A legislative committee met and moved to introduce a series of request statutes (RS) covering property removal by sheriffs, judicial pay increases, committee rules, water- plan language, elder financial-protection language, methods for filling U.S. Senate vacancies, housing finance oversight, immigration-related criminalization focused on organizations, and changes to a countywide highway district board.

The committee approved motions to introduce each RS; most passed by voice vote with the chair saying "motion carries." One motion to introduce an RS that would add two appointed commissioners to a countywide highway district drew recorded "nay" votes from three members.

The proposals sent for further review include: - An RS described as a "squatters bill," authorizing removal of persons from real property by the lawful owner under specified conditions and an official complaint process. - A proposal to increase judicial salaries by a flat $17,000 per judge at every level, described by the sponsor as a raise intended to reduce departures to private practice; the sponsor said the raise equals roughly a 10–11.5% increase depending on the level of judge. - An RS to approve committee rules (sponsor: Vito Barbieri) that was recommended to the second-reading calendar. - A change to a water-related RS (RS32487C1) that removes the phrase "at…