2nd Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 05/17/2013 10:00pm
A bill for an act
relating to state government; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota
Constitution, article IV, section 9; authorizing a council to establish salaries for
legislators; changing the composition of the Compensation Council; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivisions 1, 2, 3.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the
amendment is adopted, article IV, section 9, will read:
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The deleted text begin compensationdeleted text end new text begin salarynew text end of senators and representatives shall be prescribed
by deleted text begin law. No increase of compensation shall take effect during the period for which the
members of the existing house of representatives may have been elected.deleted text end new text begin a council
consisting of the following members: one person who is not a judge from each
congressional district appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and one
member from each congressional district appointed by the governor. If Minnesota has an
odd number of congressional districts, the governor and the chief justice must each appoint
an at-large member in addition to a member from each congressional district. One-half of
the members appointed by the governor and one-half of the members appointed by the
chief justice must belong to the political party that has the most members in the legislature.
One-half of the members appointed by the governor and one-half of the members appointed
by the chief justice must belong to the political party that has the second-most members in
the legislature. None of the members of the council may be current or former legislators.
None of the members of the council may be current or former lobbyists registered under
Minnesota law. Membership terms, removal, and compensation of members shall be as
provided by law. The council must prescribe salaries by March 31 of each odd-numbered
year, taking into account any other legislative compensation provided to legislators by the
state of Minnesota, with any changes in salary to take effect on July 1 of that year.
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The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2016 general
election. The question submitted must be:
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"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to remove legislators' ability to set
their own salaries, and instead establish an independent, citizens-only council to prescribe
salaries for legislators?
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Yes
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||
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No
.
"
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Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
A Compensation Council is created each deleted text begin even-numbered
deleted text end new text begin odd-numberednew text end year to assist the legislature in establishing the compensation of
constitutional officers, deleted text begin members of the legislature,deleted text end justices of the Supreme Court, judges
of the Court of Appeals and district court, and the heads of state and metropolitan agencies
included in section 15A.0815.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
The Compensation Council consists of 16 members: deleted text begin two
members of the house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house; two
members of the senate appointed by the majority leader of the senate; one member of the
house of representatives appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives;
one member of the senate appointed by the minority leader of the senate; twodeleted text end new text begin eight
new text end nonjudges appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Courtnew text begin , of whom no more than
four may belong to the same political partynew text end ; and one member from each congressional
district appointed by the governor, of whom no more than four may belong to the same
political party. Appointments must be made deleted text begin by October 1deleted text end new text begin after the first Monday in January
and before January 15new text end . The compensation and removal of members appointed by the
governor or the chief justice shall be as provided in section 15.059, subdivisions 3 and 4.
The Legislative Coordinating Commission shall provide the council with administrative
and support services.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
(a) By deleted text begin Maydeleted text end new text begin Aprilnew text end 1 in each
odd-numbered year, the Compensation Council shall submit to the speaker of the house
and the president of the senate salary recommendations for constitutional officers,
deleted text begin legislators,deleted text end justices of the Supreme Court, and judges of the Court of Appeals and district
court. The recommended salary for each new text begin other new text end office must take effect on the first Monday
in January of the next odd-numbered year, with no more than one adjustment, to take
effect on January 1 of the year after that. The salary recommendations for deleted text begin legislators,
deleted text end judgesdeleted text begin ,deleted text end and constitutional officers take effect if an appropriation of money to pay the
recommended salaries is enacted after the recommendations are submitted and before
their effective date. Recommendations may be expressly modified or rejected. deleted text begin The salary
recommendations for legislators are subject to additional terms that may be adopted
according to section 3.099, subdivisions 1 and 3.
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(b) The council shall also submit to the speaker of the house and the president of
the senate recommendations for the salary ranges of the heads of state and metropolitan
agencies, to be effective retroactively from January 1 of that year if enacted into law. The
recommendations shall include the appropriate group in section 15A.0815 to which each
agency head should be assigned and the appropriate limitation on the maximum range of
the salaries of the agency heads in each group, expressed as a percentage of the salary of
the governor.
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Sections 3 to 5 are effective January 1, 2017, if the constitutional amendment
proposed in section 1 is adopted by the voters.
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