Luna objects to pay bill for top elected officials

House Speaker Lawerence Denney has presented HB 692, the bill calling for the state’s top elected officials to get 4 percent pay cuts next year but then increases in each of the next three years, to the House State Affairs Committee. “We are not keeping up” when it comes to salaries for top officials, Denney told the committee. He said, “This is a political decision - it’s something we have to deal with every four years.”

State Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna testified against the bill. “I would at least like the option for myself to reject an increase, so that we’re not putting an extra burden on taxpayers at a time when the economy is at a downturn and most everyone else is seeing a decrease in their pay,” Luna said. He said now is the time to add such a clause to the bill.