52:14-15.115 "Public Officers Salary Review Commission."

13. a. There is hereby established a commission to be known as the "Public Officers Salary Review Commission." The commission shall consist of seven members: two members appointed by the Governor, no more than one of whom shall be of the same political party; one member appointed by the President of the Senate; one member appointed by the Senate minority leader; one member appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; one member appointed by the Assembly minority leader; and one member appointed by the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. In appointing members to the commission, the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, the Senate and Assembly minority leaders, and the Chief Justice shall not appoint members who are in positions that would be affected by the commission's recommendations. The appointments shall be made no later than September 1 of each year in which the commission is to review salaries and submit a report with proposed recommendations. The appointments shall expire upon the submission of a report to the Governor and Legislature.

b. The commission shall review the salaries of the Governor, cabinet officers, members of the Board of Public Utilities, members of the Casino Control Commission, Workers' Compensation judges, members of the Legislature, members of the State Commission of Investigation, Justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Superior Court, judges of the Tax Court, administrative law judges and county prosecutors and shall submit a report to the Governor and Legislature with proposed recommendations, if any, concerning changes in these salaries. In reviewing these salaries, the commission shall consider: the responsibilities of each office; the number of hours per week required to perform the responsibilities of each office; comparable positions in the public and private sectors within and outside of the State; the current state of the State and national economies; projections of future economic growth or decline; and past, and projections of future, cost of living increases or decreases. The commission shall submit its first report with proposed recommendations, if any, on or before December 1, 2003, and then on or before December 1 of every fourth calendar year thereafter.

c. The commission shall organize as soon as possible after the appointment of its members and shall select a chairperson and a vice chairperson from among its members. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the commission. Vacancies in the membership shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments.

d. Commission members shall serve without compensation. The commission shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be made available to it for its purposes. The commission shall further be entitled to employ stenographic or other clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as it may deem necessary in order to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.

L.1999,c.380,s.13.