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Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language

CHAPTER 124--H.F.No. 1823

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:

Section 1.

new text begin CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED. new text end

new text begin An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the amendment is adopted, article IV, section 9, will read: new text end

Sec. 9.

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.new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin SCHEDULE AND QUESTION. new text end

new text begin The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2016 general election. The question submitted must be: new text end

new text begin "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? new text end

new text begin Yes . new text end
new text begin No . " new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Creation.

A Compensation Council is created each deleted text begin even-numbereddeleted 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.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Membership.

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.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 15A.082, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Submission of recommendations.

(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.deleted text end

(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.

Sec. 6.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin Sections 3 to 5 are effective January 1, 2017, if the constitutional amendment proposed in section 1 is adopted by the voters. new text end

Presented to the governor May 22, 2013

Filed with the Secretary of State May 24, 2013

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes