JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A 5% pay raise for Missouri elected officials and lawmakers will take effect unless state lawmakers act by Monday.
In Missouri, lawmakers' and statewide elected officials' salaries are set by an independent citizen commission. Raises recommended by the commission take effect automatically unless the Legislature votes to block them.
Lawmakers have blocked pay raises for years, but they're running out of time to do so again.
A House committee on Tuesday passed a resolution to prevent the raises from taking effect. That leaves only days for both the full House and Senate to vote on the resolution by their Monday deadline.
The panel recommended that lawmakers, the governor and other statewide elected officials get a 5% raise. That would bring up most lawmakers' salaries by about $1,800. They are currently paid less than $36,000 a year.