Raise for Missouri elected officials close to kicking in

(AP) A raise for Missouri statewide elected officials and lawmakers is close to taking effect. The state Legislature has until Monday to block raises recommended by an independent citizen panel. A House committee on Tuesday passed a resolution to block the raises. But that leaves very little time for both the House and Senate to approve the resolution and stop the raises. The citizen panel recommended that lawmakers, the governor and other statewide elected officials get a 5% raise. That would bring up most lawmakers’ salaries by about $1,800. They are currently paid less than $36,000 a year.