Voters should reject legislators' automatic pay raises

THE ISSUE A proposed constitutional amendment would combine three government salary commissions.

ONE of the government functions that voters are being asked to turn over to the Democratic Legislature is control of recommendation of salaries in the legislative as well as judicial and executive branches. By doing so, legislators would receive automatic pay raises without being forced to vote on them. This proposed constitutional amendment should be rejected.

The amendment would create a seven-member salary commission, with two members appointed by the House speaker, two by the Senate president, two by the governor and one by the chief justice. The commission would recommend executive salaries throughout the government, except in the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii, where salary recommendations would continue to come from their boards.

A five-member commission consisting of four members appointed by the Senate president and House speaker and one by the chief justice now recommends nonunion salary levels in the executive branch. A commission consisting of the legislative foursome and the governor recommends salaries of judges and justices. Those recommended salaries take effect unless the Legislature decides otherwise.

A third commission -- this one appointed entirely by the governor -- makes recommendations every eight years on salaries paid to members of the Legislature. The proposed amendment would dissolve that commission, allowing the new Legislature-controlled commission to recommend salary levels of senators and representatives.

It might be prudent to combine the executive and judicial salary commissions, which already are controlled by legislative leaders. However, including the legislative commission in the mix would make it too easy for legislators to give themselves pay raises without casting a vote, since the commission's recommendations would take effect unless the Legislature overrides them. That seems to be the underlying purpose of the grand consolidation.