Committee advances bill allowing parishes to supplement election commissioners' pay
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Summary
The House committee advanced HB205 with an amendment that lets parish governing authorities pay up to an additional $100 to certified election commissioners as a supplemental payment while preserving the state pay schedule; clerks and commissioners testified about recruitment and training challenges.
The House Committee on House and Government Affairs on March 31 voted to report House Bill 205 favorable as amended, allowing parish governing authorities to provide a supplemental $100 payment to election commissioners who hold a certificate of instruction.
Sponsor Representative Bakula said the measure responds to growing responsibilities for election commissioners and seeks to avoid a large state fiscal note by making the additional pay permissive for parishes. "It’s been 19 years since we increased the pay of our election commissioners," Bakula said, arguing that training and new equipment have increased the job’s complexity.
Bridget Hannah, clerk of court for Ascension Parish, testified in support and said commissioners now handle expanded duties including provisional ballots, operating voting machines and lengthy election days. "Election commissioners have not received a pay increase in 19 years," Hannah said. "If we want to continue to recruit and retain qualified, capable individuals to serve in this critical role, we must ensure that their compensation reflects the importance and complexity of the work." Patricia Farris, who said she has served as a commissioner in St. Tammany Parish, described the long hours and recruitment difficulties and urged the committee to act.
The sponsor offered amendment set 28-55, which the clerk said contains mostly technical changes, removes the bill’s state base-pay schedule from the bill so present law remains unchanged, and makes the $100 payment a supplemental option for parish governing authorities. Representative Marcel moved that the committee report HB205 favorable as amended; with no objection, the motion carried and HB205 was reported favorable.
The committee did not record a roll-call vote; the action was taken by voice with no objection. The measure will move forward as amended for further consideration.
