Sen. Brad Lager, R-Maryville blasted Missouri’s salary commission today for recommending that state elected officials should get a raise next year if state workers do.

Lager, who recently lost in the race for treasurer against state. Rep. Clint Zweifel, said the commission’s 9-0 decision uses state workers as a “pawn.”

“It is wrong for the Commission to take advantage of state employees as a way to force an increase for elected officials, and I will oppose it,” Lager said in a news release. “They have gone beyond their authority and have used state employees as a pawn in the unnecessary desire reward legislators.”

The commission is supposed to be made up of 22 members, but Gov. Matt Blunt has refused to appoint his apportionment of members. After pardoning two turkeys in a ceremonial action Tuesday, he told reporters he doesn’t believe elected officials need raises and he has no intention of appointing members to the commission. The state constitution says the governor “shall” appoint members to the commission. This is not the first time the salary commission has been ignored. State officials declined to appoint members in 2004, also.

The commission also voted to give $1,500 raises to associate circuit judges in Missouri, regardless of whether other state employees receive raises. Those raises will go into effect unless the House and Senate, by two-thirds majorities, vote to ignore the salary commission’s recommendations by Feb. 1. Before 2006, lawmakers could avoid the stigma of “approving” a raise by not including the money in the budget. Also, only a simple majority of lawmakers were needed to ignore the salary commission’s recommendations. Changes were made to the law because of the passage of Amendment 7 in 2006.

Lager said he intends to file a bill calling on the Legislature to ignore the salary commission recommendations. Said Lager:

“This timetable is unrealistic and the decisions of these ten people are clearly not in best interest of the taxpayers. In 2007, I introduced resolutions to disapprove of the pay increase and to reverse Amendment 7. This year I intend to file legislation striking down the pay raise and fixing this system by returning the power back to the voters.”