JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI (KMOX) - Missouri lawmakers are finally getting a pay raise, thanks to a resolution voted on in the House of Representatives Thursday. The resolution failed.
Rep. Bill Kidd of Jackson County was among those pushing colleagues to vote AGAINST the resolution, to allow for a salary increase.
"We haven't had a raise in, what, 14 years?" Kidd said. "If you keep the salary the same, the only people who can afford to be here are the people who have money."
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Every few years, the legislature has been passing resolutions to block a raise from a commission independent of lawmakers. Rep. Rob Vescovo of Arnold said the resolution has gone against the purpose of the pay commission.
"We are now injecting ourselves into a process that we weren't supposed to be involved in, in the first place," says Vescovo, who asked that the process be respected.
The measure was ultimately defeated, despite some who wished to continue blocking it ... especially in the current times of financial hardship for so many Missourians. The Senate will not be considering any bills until after the deadline when the raise takes effect.
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It's not a huge increase, about $1,800 a year, and brings the annual salary for those in both the House and Senate to $37,711 a year. The last raise was in 2007.
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