Oregon voters to decide whether independent commission should set salaries for state elected officials

Oregon voters this fall will decide whether to establish an independent commission responsible for setting the salaries of the governor, secretary of state, lawmakers, judges and other state elected officials.

If passed, Measure 116 would require the new commission to set the pay for those officials every two years. Currently, that responsibility falls to lawmakers who aren’t required to take up the issue at any specific interval. The measure prohibits state employees and lobbyists or their immediate family members from serving on the commission, but it does not specify who will be appointed or who is responsible for establishing that process. As a result, lawmakers would have the authority to set that process.