The amended bill setting salaries for the state's top elected officials for the next four years, HB 692a, has passed the House on a close 37-30 vote, and now moves to the Senate. The bill would cut the officials' pay by 4 percent next year, then return it to its current level in 2012; then give raises each of the next two years, though they'd be smaller than the bill originally proposed before it was amended. By the end of the four-year period, the governor's salary would rise from the current $115,348 to $119,000, an increase of 3 percent. Rep. Steve Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, debated against the bill, saying the salaries should be frozen for the next four years. "I think this sends the wrong message," he said. "Given these economic conditions, I think these are adequate salaries." House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, who sponsored the pay bill, said, "I think that's a very, very modest increase."

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