§26-56 Commission on salaries. (a) Pursuant to article XVI, section 3.5, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, there is established a commission on salaries within the department of human resources development, for administrative purposes only.
The commission shall consist of seven members of whom:
(1) Two members shall be appointed by the governor;
(2) Two members shall be appointed by the president of the senate;
(3) Two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives; and
(4) One member shall be appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court.
Vacancies in these positions shall be filled in the same manner. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
(b) The commission shall review and recommend an appropriate salary for the governor, lieutenant governor, members of the legislature, justices and judges of all state courts, administrative director of the State or an equivalent position, and department heads or executive officers and the deputies or assistants to the department heads of the departments of:
(1) Accounting and general services;
(2) Agriculture;
(3) The attorney general;
(4) Budget and finance;
(5) Business, economic development, and tourism;
(6) Commerce and consumer affairs;
(7) Defense;
(8) Hawaiian home lands;
(9) Health;
(10) Human resources development;
(11) Human services;
(12) Labor and industrial relations;
(13) Land and natural resources;
(14) Public safety;
(15) Taxation; and
(16) Transportation.
The commission shall not review the salary of any position in the department of education or the University of Hawaii.
The commission may recommend different salaries for department heads and executive officers and different salary ranges for deputies or assistants to department heads; provided that the commission shall recommend the same salary range for deputies or assistants to department heads within the same department; provided further that the appointing official shall specify the salary for a particular position within the applicable range.
The commission shall not recommend salaries lower than salary amounts recommended by prior commissions replaced by this section.
(c) The commission may seek assistance from the department of human resources development and any other agency in conducting its review, and all agencies shall fully cooperate with the commission and provide any necessary information to the commission upon request.
(d) The commission shall convene in the month of November 2006, and every six years thereafter. Not later than the fortieth legislative day of the regular session of 2007, and every six years thereafter, the commission shall submit a report of its findings and its salary recommendations to the legislature, through the governor. The commission may include incremental increases that take effect prior to the convening of the next salary commission.
The recommended salaries submitted by the commission shall become effective July 1 of the next fiscal year unless the legislature disapproves the recommended salaries submitted by the commission through the adoption of a concurrent resolution, which shall be approved by a simple majority of each house of the legislature, prior to adjournment sine die of the legislative session in which the recommended salaries are submitted; provided that any change in salary which becomes effective shall not apply to the legislature to which the recommendation for the change in salary was submitted.
The governor shall include the salary amounts recommended by the commission and approved by the legislature for employees of the executive branch in the executive budget. If the salary amounts recommended by the commission are disapproved by the legislature, the commission shall reconvene in the November next following the legislative disapproval to review the legislature's reasons for disapproving its salary recommendation. The commission may submit a report of its findings and submit a new salary recommendation to the legislature at the next regular session. The commission's reconvening following a legislative disapproval shall not toll the six-year cycle. [L 2006, c 299, §1]