Panel urges rejection of judicial pay raises

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A key Senate committee yesterday approved a resolution to reject the pay increases for judges and justices recommended by the Judicial Selection Commission.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee advanced the resolution, which calls for the commission to reconvene in November and make another recommendation to next year's Legislature. The resolution now heads to the full Senate for a vote and also requires House approval.

The resolution drew strong opposition from commissioners, the state Attorney General and the vice-president of the Hawai'i State Bar Association, who said the state will lose good judges if they continue to be underpaid.

"It is crucial to the functioning of our judicial system for us to appropriately pay our judges and justices," state Attorney General Mark Bennett said. "They have a very difficult job. They come under criticism all the time from people, like for example me, and they are unable to respond publicly. ... They go in there everyday and they do their job, and without them our judicial system could not function."

But Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brian Taniguchi, D-10th (Manoa, McCully), said while judges and justices deserve a raise, he is concerned about the annual percentage increases recommended by the commission.

The commission recommended an average salary increase of 14 percent for justices, judges and appointed administrative officers of the judiciary, which would amount to about $1.3 million. The commission also recommended 3.5 percent annual increases from fiscal years 2007 through 2012.

Judges and justices last received a raise in 2000. Current salaries range from $100,761 for district court judges to $116,779 for the Hawai'i Supreme Court chief justice. The commission reported that the national average for fifth-year private attorneys is $153,000.

Yesterday's action comes two days after the Ways and Means and the Transportation, Military Affairs and Government Operations committees approved a resolution to reject pay raises for the governor, lieutenant governor and department heads.

Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), criticized the resolutions, saying lawmakers did not reject their own pay raises last year and found money for arbitrated raises for thousands of white-collar public workers.

"I would submit the money is there, the priorities are not," Hemmings said.

Taniguchi said such public worker salaries are "relatively miniscule" and that approving the judicial raises is not urgent because the commission's recommended increases would not go into effect until July next year.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.