Senate State Affairs committee advances resolution to reject citizens' pay panel's 22% increase

The Senate State Affairs Committee voted to send to print RS 31919, a concurrent resolution offered by Sen. Christy Zito asking the Legislature to reject the rates of legislative compensation set by the Citizens Committee on Legislative Compensation.

Zito, who represents Legislative District 8, told the committee the Idaho Constitution (Article IV, Section 23) delegates authority to set legislative pay to a citizens committee and that the constitution allows the Legislature only to "reject or reduce" the committee's rates by concurrent resolution before the 25th legislative day of the next regular session. "This is a beautiful system of checks and balance that our republic was founded on and thrived for over 240 years," she said.

In remarks to the committee, Zito objected to what she described as a roughly 22% increase proposed by the committee and tied the objection to broader affordability concerns in the state. "I am confident that the forget forgotten men and women of Idaho work hard to pay their taxes. And this year, they will not receive a 22% increase in their pay or their spending value," she said, adding that rising property taxes and inflation were creating hardship.

Sen. Shippey moved to send RS 31919 to print; the motion was seconded and carried on a voice vote.

Why it matters: Under the constitutional provision Zito cited, the citizens committee sets compensation and the Legislature may only reject or reduce the committee's rates by concurrent resolution within the specified timeframe. If the Legislature rejects the rates, the previous session's rates remain in effect, per the same constitutional section.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote on the motion; the chair announced the motion "carries." No additional committee action on RS 31919 was recorded in the transcript.