Bill Text: MS HB1231 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Legislators; require State Personnel Board to set salary at national average.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2011-02-01 - Died In Committee [HB1231 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2011-HB1231-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Fees and Salaries of Public Officers; Appropriations
By: Representative Holland
House Bill 1231
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 5-1-41, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD TO DETERMINE THE NATIONAL AVERAGE BASE SALARY OF STATE LEGISLATORS EVERY FOUR YEARS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING IN 2011, THE COMPENSATION PAYABLE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE FOR EACH REGULAR SESSION SHALL BE AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE NATIONAL AVERAGE LEGISLATIVE SALARY; TO AMEND SECTION 5-1-47, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS TO BE PREAPPROVED BY THE HOUSE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE OR SENATE RULES COMMITTEE, AS THE CASE MAY BE, FOR MILEAGE AND EXPENSE ALLOWANCES FOR IDENTIFIED DAYS SPENT ATTENDING TO LEGISLATIVE DUTIES BETWEEN SESSIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 5-1-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
5-1-41. (1) Beginning with the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi, each Senator and Representative of the Legislature shall receive as compensation at each regular session an amount determined by the State Personnel Board, as required under subsection (2) of this section, and the mileage allowance provided by Section 25-3-41, for each mile of the distance by the most direct route usually traveled in coming to and returning from the place where the Legislature sits. * * * Each Senator and Representative shall receive for attending each extraordinary session or called session the sum of Seventy-five Dollars ($75.00) per day and mileage at the same rate as per regular session. In addition to the above, * * * each Senator and Representative and the Lieutenant Governor shall receive the sum of One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) per month for expenses incidental to his office for every full month of his term, except any month or major fraction thereof when the Legislature is convened in regular or extraordinary
session. Payments shall be made to each Senator and Representative and the Lieutenant Governor by the State Treasurer between the first and tenth day of each month following the month for which the payments are due.
(2) Beginning in 2011 and every four (4) years thereafter, the State Personnel Board shall determine the national average base salary of state legislators. In making its calculation, the State Personnel Board must utilize the most current compensation data available from the different states; however, if the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has compiled and published a survey on legislative salaries no earlier than July 1 of the same year, the State Personnel Board may utilize the NCSL compensation data in determining the national average legislator salary. Before December 1 during the year in which the national average legislative salary is determined, the State Personnel Board shall certify its determination to the Senate and House of Representatives, and the compensation for each Senator and Representative for each regular session, beginning with the first session of each new term, shall be an amount equal to the national average base salary as determined by the State Personnel Board.
SECTION 2. Section 5-1-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
5-1-47. (1) In addition to the regular salary and mileage provided by law, an expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations, for each legislative day in actual attendance at a session shall be paid to the Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, together with an additional mileage allowance as provided by Section 25-3-41, for each mile of the distance by the most direct route usually traveled in coming to and returning from the place where the Legislature is in session, which expense allowance and additional mileage allowance shall be paid at the end of each seven-day period while the Legislature is in session.
(2) In addition to the mileage allowance provided for in subsection (1) of this section, an expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations, per day, shall be paid to:
(a) The Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate, upon the approval of the Senate Rules Committee, for attending to legislative duties on any of the following days that the Senate does not convene in session on that day: (i) * * * any day of a legislative regular session that has been extended beyond the number of calendar days specified in Section 36, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, when that day falls after the ninetieth or one-hundred-twenty-fifth day of the session, as the case may be; or (ii) any day during a legislative extraordinary session; and
(b) Members of the House of Representatives, upon the approval of the House Management Committee, for attending to legislative duties on any of the following days that the House does not convene in session on that day: (i) * * * any day of a legislative regular session that has been extended beyond the number of calendar days specified in Section 36, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, when that day falls after the ninetieth or one-hundred-twenty-fifth day of the session, as the case may be; or (ii) any day during a legislative extraordinary session.
(3) In addition to the mileage allowance provided for in subsection (1) of this section, an expense allowance equal to the maximum daily expense rate allowable to employees of the federal government for travel in the high rate geographical area of Jackson, Mississippi, as may be established by federal regulations, per day, may be paid to members of the Senate and House of Representatives for any day between legislative regular or extraordinary sessions spent attending to official legislative duties. However, before an expense allowance and mileage allowance may be paid under this subsection, members of the Senate must request and be granted approval for the expense reimbursement, for a day certain, by the Senate Rules Committee, and members of the House of Representatives must request and be granted approval for the expense reimbursement, for a day certain, by the House Management Committee. A Senate or House member's request for expense reimbursement under this subsection must be for an identified date, and no member may be reimbursed for expenses or mileage under this subsection for an unspecified date or number of days.
(4) The expense allowance and additional mileage allowance provided by this section for the Lieutenant Governor and members of the Senate shall be paid from the appropriate legislative fund of the Senate as provided by law, and the expense allowance and additional mileage allowance for members of the House of Representatives shall be paid from the appropriate legislative fund of the House of Representatives as provided by law, upon warrants drawn for such purpose in the manner provided by law.
SECTION 3. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011, if it is effectuated on or before that date under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended. If it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended after July 1, 2011, this act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
