Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati has been pushing for years to increase the pay of state officeholders, who last got a raise in 2008.

A proposal to provide pay raises to state, county and township officials, giving some their first pay increase in a decade, was amended Wednesday into a bill dealing with survivor benefits for police and firefighters.

But law enforcement is not pleased that House Republicans are using a bill aimed at helping their families and those of firefighters to play a game of chicken with Gov. John Kasich, who opposes the idea and may veto the bill.

“We are concerned that this will be a poison pill,” said Mike Weinman, legislative director for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio.

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Linda Pope of Cincinnati, whose husband, Cincinnati Officer Daniel Pope, was shot and killed in 1998 while serving a domestic violence warrant, said she's been working on the bill for seven years.

"For us to be this close and for them to do that to us, it's very heartbreaking," she said of the pay raise amendment. The bill extending benefits "is our livelihood. It is our future. It is for future officers and their families. It just needs to be done."

The amendment also would need Senate support, and while majority leaders generally support a pay raise bill, the provision may instead go into a different bill.

"I am supportive of a modest, fair compensation package for elected officials as it has been a decade since many have seen any adjustments," said Sen. Jay Hottinger, R-Newark, a prime sponsor of the survivor benefits bill. "The Senate will be in discussions and deliberations as to if this is the best and proper place to seek such changes."

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati, who has been pushing for years to increase the pay of state officeholders who last got a raise in 2008, said the proposal would increase the base salary of lawmakers and statewide officeholders by 3 percent, 3 percent and then 4 percent over the next three years. They would then get 1.75 percent increase for six years after.

That would increase the base pay for lawmakers from $60,584 this year to $67,493 by 2021, and then to $76,208 by 2028.

Lawmakers in 2015 granted pay raises over four years to county judges, prosecutors and sheriffs. The latest proposal would increase their pay through the next nine years at 1.75 percent per year. For other countywide officeholders, who got two years of pay raises in 2015, they would get 5 percent raises for each of the next two years, and then 1.75 percent for through 2028.

Township officials and election board officials would get 1.75 percent increases through 2028.

The proposal, Seitz said, also would establish an advisory pay commission that can recommend the 1.75 rate be adjusted, based on changes in inflation over the years.

“This was the product of negotiation between the two chambers,” Seitz said. “I am satisfied.”

Seitz noted that minimum wage has been rising with inflation, and that senior legislative campaign leaders have remarked that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to recruit quality legislative candidates because of the pay.

State lawmakers earn a base salary of $60,584, though the median salary is more like $65,000 once stipends for caucus and committee leadership positions are included. The Senate president and House speaker earn the most at $94,437.

The base legislative salary in Ohio is higher than at least 40 other states — though unlike most states, legislators here do not receive a per diem on top of their salaries. For example, a Wisconsin senator earns a base $50,950 but also can easily earn over $10,000 in per diem payments.

As in many states, the job of an Ohio lawmaker is considered part time. A number of lawmakers hold private sector jobs that pay them in excess of $25,000 per year, though the hours and work of a state official can vary depending on the time of year, committee assignments, and just how active a member is in his or her district.

The proposal was attached to Senate Bill 296, designed to ensure the families of law enforcement officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty can collect 100 percent of benefits for longer than current law allows and help them with health insurance.

House Speaker Ryan Smith, R-Bidwell, said recently that he supports a pay raise proposal for county and state elected officials, but thinks there is a good chance Kasich would veto it.

"The governor does not favor pay raises during lame duck sessions of the legislature," said Jon Keeling, spokesman for Kasich.

Asked about that concern, Seitz said, “I am confident that enough legislators care about the widows of fire and police killed in the line of duty that they will show up to do the necessary (override vote) if the governor vetoes it.”

Under the bill, which passed the Senate unanimously in June, survivors could get full benefits until the deceased would have reached 33 years of service or 70 years old. Under current law, benefits are reduced after 25 years of service or 48 years old. After 33 years or age 70, the benefits would drop to 75 percent, instead of the 50 percent under current law.

The state Constitution gives lawmakers the power to set the salaries of elected officials, with approval from the governor. However, lawmakers have long worried about the political implications of granting themselves a pay raise, and have not done so since an eight-year raise was passed in 2000.

When they do happen, pay raises are often passed during the post-election lame duck session, when a number of lawmakers are either finished at the end of the year, or have run in their last legislative campaign because of term limits.

Reps. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, and Adam Miller, D-Columbus, the two Franklin County members on the Finance Committee, voted in favor of the amendment, though five other members did not — three Republicans and two Democrats. Rep. John Patterson, D-Jefferson, said he could not in good conscious vote for a pay raise when so many in his area are losing their jobs due to the closure of the General Motors Lordstown Plant.

The bill passed out of committee and could see a full House vote either Thursday or next week.

When he was Senate President in 2014, now-Rep. Keith Faber, R-Celina, who takes over as state auditor in January, tried to create a compensation commission to give lawmakers a more passive role in the pay raise process. It would have allowed them to reject a recommendation for raises, or let it take effect without a vote. The House at the time declined to go along.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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