Judges a step closer to possible pay raises

Missouri judges are a bit closer to getting raises in their pay.

A Missouri Senate committee on Tuesday rejected a resolution that would have blocked judicial raises for 2013. The pay plan was recommended by the Missouri Citizens' Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials, and takes effect unless the Legislature rejects it by Feb. 1.

Money for the raises would have to be included in the state budget. The leader of the state Senate's Republican majority says he hopes lawmakers won't fund them.

The plan would set the salaries of Missouri Supreme Court judges at 69 percent of those of U.S. Supreme Court justices. Other Missouri judges would get salaries equal to 73 percent of those their federal equivalents.