Bill Description: House Bill 188 would significantly increase the salaries of Idaho Supreme Court justices and other judges over the next four years.
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NOTE: House Bill 188 is related to House Bill 124, introduced earlier this session. While House Bill 124 attempted to implement significant judicial raises in one year, House Bill 188 would spread out a larger increase overall over a 4-year period.
House Bill 188 is also related to House Bill 189, which calls for a slightly lower increase.
Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?
House Bill 188 would amend Section 59-502, Idaho Code, to increase the salaries of Idaho Supreme Court justices and other judges.
Under the increases contained in this bill, the salary of Supreme Court justices would increase from $169,508 to $222,190 over a 4-year period, which is a 7% annual increase and an overall increase of $52,682 or 31.1%.
Because the salaries of other judges are indexed to the salaries of Supreme Court justices, their salaries would increase by the same dollar amount, with an even greater percentage increase. Over 4 years, the salary for a Court of Appeals judge would increase from $161,508 to $214,190 (32.6%); the salary for a district judge would increase from $155,508 to $208,190 (33.9%); and the salary for a magistrate judge would increase from $147,508 to $200,190 (35.7%).
These significant increases, which the bill's fiscal note estimates would cost Idaho taxpayers more than $28.5 million over four years, are not justified by inflation or by the Change in Employee Compensation (CEC) awarded to other state employees.
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An additional factor to consider is that judges’ pensions are based on their final salary, not their average salary, or how much they have paid into the state employee retirement system. These significant salary increases would also result in significant pension spikes for judges who retire after the increases take effect.
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