Panel recommends higher pay for lawmakers, top officials

DOVER, Del. (AP) - A state panel is recommending pay raises for Delaware lawmakers, judges and high-ranking government officials.

The Delaware Compensation Commission, which meets every four years to review salaries for lawmakers and other government officials, released a draft report Monday.

The recommendations include higher salaries and expense allowances for legislators, higher salaries for statewide officials except the governor, and pay raises for several cabinet posts. Judges also would see salaries increase, in some cases by more than $20,000 over four years.

Under state law, the panel’s recommendations take effect automatically unless lawmakers vote them down in their entirety.

Lawmakers of both parties have already indicated that they have no political appetite for pay raises given the state’s budget problems, including a projected shortfall for next year currently estimated at around $350 million.