House adopts substitute to reduce salaries for legislators and some statewide elected officials

On a motion to substitute, the House approved a second‑substitute version of House Bill 5,004 that reduces pay for legislators for a defined short period and applies modest reductions to certain statewide elected officials.

Representative Murray described the original proposal as a simple one‑page bill lowering daily legislative pay by 20 percent through the end of the year, reducing the daily pay to about $96. The substitute that passed would revert salaries to an earlier calendar‑year level and include five statewide elected officials (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, state treasurer) in the temporary reduction. Sponsors argued the action sends a message of shared sacrifice as state departments and constituents face layoffs and cuts.

Opponents said a direct voluntary cut of legislative pay (the original motion) would be preferable and criticized the substitute for changing others' pay without voluntary agreement; some urged support for the original bill rather than the substitute. The House recorded a close roll call on the substitute motion (the motion to substitute passed 38–34). Later floor action adopted the second substitute and the bill was forwarded to the Senate for signature and further consideration.

The measure was framed on the floor as a symbolic but practical step to share the burden of statewide budget reductions; precise dollar effects for each office and final roll call counts for subsequent steps were discussed in debate but not fully recorded in the available transcript excerpt.