State lawmakers shouldn’t get used to exorbitant pay increases.

A resolution passed out of a House-Senate conference committee Wednesday would require the Legislature to vote on future pay increases and would give the lawmakers power to accept smaller pay increases than those recommended by the State Officers Compensation Commission.

Lawmakers drafted the resolution in response to a $20,000 pay increase earlier in the year. Because of the raise, state lawmakers now make $77,400 a year. Many legislators said the increase was too large, but they lacked the power to reduce the increase without eliminating it.

“I think it is good, common sense reform to fix the system that resulted in these problems,” said state Sen. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Livonia, who sponsored the legislation. “People should realize that we are serious about fixing the system that is broken and giving people a chance to fix the system.”

The resolution calls for a constitutional amendment that would be on the ballot for voters in November, if it is approved by the full House, Senate and governor.

“We are trying to put accountability into the state pay raise system, and make lawmakers vote before they take a pay raise,” McCotter said. “People will like this.”

The resolution would not affect current salary levels.

State Rep. Gilda Jacobs, D-Huntington Woods, was among the six members of the committee that unanimously supported the legislation.

“The important thing is that we are making some changes that really needed to be done to the process,” she said. “Many of us feel that the Legislature should be accountable by voting whether or not to accept a pay raise.”

Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Lansing-based political newsletter, Inside Michigan Politics, said the legislation is an improvement on current law.

“The public should feel a lot better about this language than in the current law,” Ballenger said. “This doesn’t guarantee that the Legislature will continue to get the same salary they have had.

“But there will be more accountability and it will be more apparent to the voting public what legislators have done.”

In the wake of recent state budget troubles, state Rep. Doug Spade, D-Adrian, introduced legislation that would reduce some of the pay increase accepted by lawmakers this year.

Spade said his bill prompted other lawmakers to move ahead on the resolution to reform salary increases.

“I would still like to see us cut the pay, but even if it has helped move the resolution along, I’m very pleased,” Spade said. “I’m pleased that this has come out of conference, and it may not be perfect, but it is a step in the right direction.

“We should give the public a chance to have their say.”