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Facing backlash, Michigan redistricting commission reverses pay raise

Facing backlash, Michigan’s redistricting panel have reversed course and ended a 7% pay raise the commissioners gave themselves a month ago.
Credit: AP
FILE - People speak during Michigan's new Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission meeting on Oct. 21, 2021, in Lansing, Mich. Several groups announced Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, they will sue to challenge Michigan's new state House map, alleging it is biased toward Republicans and should be redrawn to be fairer to Democrats on a partisan basis. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)

LANSING, Mich — Facing backlash, Michigan’s redistricting panel reversed course Thursday and ended a 7% pay raise the commissioners gave themselves a month ago.

The state constitutional amendment that created the independent commission says members must make at least $39,825 annually, a quarter of the governor’s salary. Commissioners voted last year to be paid $55,755 a year and, in February, approved an increase to nearly $60,000 on an 8-3 vote. They described it as a cost-of-living adjustment to account for high inflation.

The commissioners voted 12-1 to return their pay to $39,825. They drew new congressional and legislative maps late last year but continue to meet as groups challenge the plans in court.

“We represent the people. I'm a taxpayer, too. I don't want spend any more of my money,” said Richard Weiss, a commissioner who affiliates with neither major political party.

Weiss, who voted against the raise last month, echoed a Republican commissioner's concerns that keeping it intact would hurt the panel's request for lawmakers to allocate funding to address a budget shortfall that is attributed largely to litigation costs.

Chair Dustin Witjes, a Democrat and one of seven commissioners to change his vote, said he did so to avoid seeing the issue raised at every future meeting.

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Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00

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