Constitutional Amendment: Remove state lawmakers’ power to set their own salaries
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to remove state lawmakers’ power to set their own salaries, and instead establish an independent, citizens-only council to prescribe salaries of lawmakers?
If this proposed constitutional amendment is passed, article IV, section 9 of the Minnesota Constitutional will be amended to read:
"The salary of senators and representatives shall be prescribed by 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, or the spouse of a current legislator. None of the members of the council may be current or former lobbyists registered under Minnesota law. None of the members of the council may be a current employee of the legislature. None of the members of the council may be a current or former judge. None of the members of the council may be a current or former governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, or state auditor. None of the members of the council may be a current employee of an entity in the executive or judicial branch. 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. Any salary increase for legislators authorized in law by the legislature after January 5, 2015, is repealed."