Bill Description: House Bill 348 would increase the annual salaries of supreme court justices, appeals court judges, district judges, and magistrate judges.

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NOTE: House Bill 348 is similar to Senate Bill 1156, introduced earlier this session.

Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?

House Bill 348 would amend Section 59-502, Idaho Code, to increase the annual salaries of supreme court justices, appeals court judges, district judges, and magistrate judges.

This increase would range from 3% for supreme court justices to 8.2% for magistrate judges. Two years ago, these same justices and judges received raises that ranged from 1.6% to 2%. 

According to the fiscal note for House Bill 348, the total annual fiscal impact for these salary increases and associated benefits is approximately $2 million.

At a time when many Idahoans are struggling with rising property taxes, higher utility bills, and inflated food prices, it seems unreasonable to allocate millions of taxpayer dollars to provide larger raises than most other state employees received at equivalent pay ranges. 

Most state employees will receive a raise of $1.20 per hour, which would be the equivalent of a 1.6% to 1.9% raise at the current pay rate for these justices and judges. Even though judges received no raise last session, some of the raises in this bill would still exceed the two-year increase for other state employees.

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