An attempt to withdraw a resolution from committee that would have blocked a pay raise for state lawmakers failed in the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate voted 21-3 to pull the resolution from committee, three votes short of the 24 needed to move it out of committee.
The motion to move the resolution out of committee was not debatable.
It would have been the first of two steps needed to expedite consideration of the resolution.
The Senate needed a second vote to move the resolution above the line on the calendar for a full debate. It would have needed 27 votes.
Republican Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker introduced the resolution that would have stopped the pay raise recommended by an independent commission created by the Legislature.
Tyson’s resolution included six other sponsors, all Republicans.
Senators joining Tyson in support of the resolution were Tim Shallenburger of Baxter Springs, Molly Baumgardner of Louisburg, John Doll of Garden City, Mark Steffen of Hutchinson, Alicia Straub of Ellinwood and Kellie Warren of Leawood.
Tyson has said that the pay raise recommended by the independent commission was “too much, too soon” and should have been more gradual.
Tyson said the money for raises could better be used to pay for additional staffing.
Other senators who signed on to the resolution said the Legislature should have had to vote on a pay raise for its members.
The pay raise recommended by the special commission created by the Legislature would nearly double the pay for lawmakers.
The total package, including base pay and per diem, would now be worth about $57,000 a year compared to the roughly $29,000 lawmakers now receive.
The commission agreed to index that salary based on a rolling three-year average for all Kansas employees based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The new compensation plan includes $43,000 for base pay plus the $14,130 for subsistence – or per diem – that would be set in the future by the Department of Administration.
The $7,083 allowance lawmakers now receive would be discontinued in 2025.
The Legislature had 30 days from the start of this year’s session – Jan. 8 – to block the pay raise, which means lawmakers had until early February to stop the increase.
The deadline for the Legislature to pass a resolution stopping the raise is Feb. 7.
The new pay raise starts next year.
