SALT LAKE CITY -- Republican leaders in the Utah House plan to turn down a pay increase in 2011, a move that rejects a Legislative Compensation Commission recommendation that lawmakers get a pay raise for the next session.
House Speaker David Clark said Wednesday he will ask the House membership to "do with less" and refuse the offer of more money.
"We are going to ask to do that again this year. We fully intend to say no," said Clark.
The speaker's support for rejecting the increase mirrors legislation in the works by Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake.
Litvack's bill maintains salary at the 2010 level for the 104 legislators, all of whom are part time.
"It's a matter of fairness, we should not be accepting the automatic pay increase while we are asking others to sacrifice," said Litvack, who is the House minority leader.
Lawmakers voluntarily took a 10 percent pay cut last year.
The commission recommended in late 2009 that lawmakers' salaries be increased, starting with the 2011 Legislature, from $117 a day to $130 a day.
Litvack's legislation came on the day lawmakers passed through the first phase of the state budget process by approving a base budget with deep cuts for many agencies.
"Presidents Day is an important one," said Clark, who was noting that Feb. 15 is the day state revenue will be recalculated.
That revenue tally may determine the next step, lawmakers said, as they reconfigure the base state budget.
During the deliberations, GOP leaders said it was possible that they may not only turn down their own pay increase but may even take another cut.
Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, wants all the state leaders, such as the governor, the attorney general and others, and their staffs, to take home a smaller pay check.
"Taking a pay cut is a worthy cause. Let's make it across the board," said Hansen, who is considering legislation that would reduce the pay for all state leaders.
Mileage reimbursement is part of the package for legislators who also get $54 a day for meals and other expenses and $90 a day for hotels during the 45-day session.
Individual lawmakers on average make about $15,000 a year.
Clark said his staff took a work furlough and made cuts in the last year, similar to actions taken by other state employees during the ongoing budget crunch.
If legislators don't act on rejecting the increase, they will automatically get a pay raise this summer, the start of the fiscal year, to $130 a day.
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