ST. PAUL – Legislation Rep. Jim Knoblach, R-St. Cloud, authored to provide deficiency funding to state agencies and repeal raises for state commissioners passed the House 106-21 on Thursday.
The bill (S.F. 174) was designed to patch holes in various state budgets as some areas run low near the end of the biennium. But the headline provision in the package pertained to recent salary increases Gov. Mark Dayton provided to commissioners.
Democrat majorities in the House and Senate changed the law in 2013, allowing the governor to provide raises for his cabinet members without legislative approval. The recent revelation that Dayton had approved raises of $25,000 to more than $80,000 caused backlash from legislators and citizens alike, spurring action Knoblach, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, and others deemed necessary.
“By passing this bill, we voted to take away the pay increases that were given to the commissioners,” Knoblach said. “Secondly, we returned to the Legislature the authority to raise pay for commissioners. Governor Dayton, however, will under the bill that was negotiated with his office, have authority to grant raises on July 1, 2015, but then lose that authority in the future.”
Some of the deficiency funding provided by the bill will go to the Department of Health to cover for unanticipated expenses to guard against an Ebola outbreak. Other money was appropriated to the St. Peter State Hospital to help cover new safety standards.
The bill goes to the Senate for its action.
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