A straightforward vote on a bill that would adjust the salaries of the governor and other elected officials like auditor, treasurer, attorney general, secretary of state revealed some senators who could be thinking of running for them.
House Bill 3135, modifying the salaries of the governor and constitutional officers, passed the Senate, 25-7. The method of determining the pay was amended in the Senate, so it goes back to the House to accept or reject.
The changes would not take place until 2025, so they wouldn’t affect current officers unless they are re-elected.
A politically-interesting moment came when some members of the Senate recused themselves, potentially considering runs at some of the executive branch offices.
Gov. Jim Justice is up against a term limit and will depart the office after 2024. Auditor J.B. McCuskey and Secretary of State Mac Warner have announced runs for governor, so they are vacating those offices. Treasurer Riley Moore is running for Congress.
So the field is open for senators — or anyone else — considering runs for any of those.
One was Senator Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha: “We do have some open officer positions, and I may consider running for one of those.” Senator Randy Smith, R-Tucker: “Same request.” Senator Ryan Weld, R-Brooke: “Same request. Thank you.”
As they popped like hot kernels, Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, instructed everybody to vote on the bill and also asked everybody who would be affected by a potential ethical concern to just stand all at once. “Everybody just stand up together,” he said.
Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, briefly acknowledged needing clearance.
The chamber cracked up when Senator Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell asked, “What was the governor’s salary again? Same request.”
Senator Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, former federal prosecutor and former GOP chairman, then rose and said, “Same request.”
Finally, Blair told everybody, “If you are running for a higher office and would qualify for this, you are a member of a class of 1.8 million people and required to vote.”
An amendment would remove the salary scales in code and tie them to federal salary schedules that are updated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
So the governor’s salary, currently set at $150,000 a year, would adjust to $177,978 under the new system.
The other six constitutional officers have a salary of $95,000 and would adjust to $129,269 under the new format.
The Legislature is also considering a pay raise for delegates and senators taking effect in 2025.
Senate Bill 740 was approved 54-43 on Friday evening in the House of Delegates.
Lawmakers haven’t received a pay raise since 2009. Right now, members of the Legislature make base pay of $20,000 a year.
The new compensation bill would change to an amount equal to the per capital income in West Virginia as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau the prior year. Currently, that’s estimated to be about $28,000.
The basis of the pay raise bill is recommendations by the 7-member Citizens Legislative Compensation Commission, which meets every four years as spelled out in the state Constitution.