The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has voted unanimously to approve 5 percent, across-the-board pay hikes for the commissioners who serve on the Industrial Commission, Tax Commission and Public Utilities Commission. That would take industrial commissioners’ salaries from $82,951 to $87,099; tax commissioners from $79,009 to $82,959; and PUC commissioners from $85,222 to $89,483. Five percent is the same amount that’s being funded for merit-based increases for state employees in all agencies, but the joint committee approved a public schools budget that includes just 3 percent for teachers and other public school employees. The commissioners’ salary bill, like all budget bills, still needs approval from both houses and the governor’s signature to become law.

---

---