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Thursday, January 27, 2005

Ind. Courts - Judges' pay raise bills being considered

Two stories today on the possibility of a pay raise for Indiana judges this year. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has this report today, in a story by Niki Kelly headlined "Pay-increase bill for state’s judges clears committee." Some quotes:

INDIANAPOLIS – The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-0 Wednesday to provide automatic annual salary adjustments for the state’s judges and prosecutors in years when the General Assembly does not give a raise.

House Bill 363, which now moves to the full Senate, would tie the annual cost-of-living increases to the same level given to similar state employees in the executive branch. Those increases have ranged from zero to 4 percent since 2001.

A 1 percent increase would cost the state about $500,000, according to a fiscal impact statement on the bill. A 5 percent increase would cost $2.4 million.

Trial judges currently earn $90,000 and haven’t received a pay raise since 1997. Magistrates and prosecutors also would see a bump under the bill because their salaries are linked to judicial rates.

Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the bill has a lot of merit and is a sensible approach to the problem. “There is a danger that you lose your best and brightest from the bench” if salaries are not increased, he said.

A story in the Indianapolis Star by Kevin Corcoran and Richard D. Walton
reports:
Indiana lawmakers hoping for a pay raise this session are out of luck, but there's still a chance for judges, Republican leaders of the GOP-controlled Indiana General Assembly said Wednesday.

"I think there'll be some kind of judicial salary bill that passes," said House Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale. "I don't think there is any hope of raises for lawmakers."

While legislators always face a tough sell in passing pay raises for themselves, there is sentiment in the legislature for approving higher pay for Indiana judges, who trail many of their peers nationwide in salaries.

Advocates for a judicial pay raise say the gap must be bridged to attract the best and brightest attorneys to the bench. * * *

In the past 31 years, judges have received pay hikes 10 times, compared with 26 times for most state workers, testified Judge Paul Mathias, a member of the Indiana Court of Appeals and a former president of the Indiana Judges Association.

"This is really a 'me-too' bill. This is not a 'more-for-me' bill," Mathias said after the Senate committee hearing. "All we're seeking is fairness. Isn't that what the judiciary's all about?"

Under the Senate bill, if state employees received a 1 percent raise, it would cost taxpayers about $496,000 to give the same raise to judges and prosecutors. In any year in which judges were voted a flat raise, they would not get the cost-of-living adjustment.

The Senate proposal is a far cry from a pending House measure to give the judiciary pay raises ranging from 25 to 35 percent.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 27, 2005 09:36 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts