They're still one member short, since Gov. Jay Nixon has not yet named his representative to the panel.
But the Joint Interim Committee on State Employee Wages last week formally began its process for collecting information and completing a report on state workers' pay by the end of the year.
Lawmakers last spring passed a resolution creating the committee, including its instruction to "develop strategies for increasing the wages of Missouri's state employees so Missouri will no longer rank 50th among states regarding state worker wages."
State Rep. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, sponsored the resolution and, last week, was named the committee's chairman.
"This hasn't been done since 1983," he said. "Not everybody thinks we're going to end up as bad as some people think we are."