Texas Judges Receive 25% Pay Raise After Legislative Deal Amid Pension Dispute

Texas lawmakers have reached a last-minute agreement to raise judges' base pay by 25%, from $140,000 to $175,000, marking the first raise in 12 years amid concerns about Texas ranking 49th in judicial pay nationally. The legislation, Senate Bill 293, also increases retirement pensions for lawmakers, as these pensions are currently linked to the judicial base salary, a connection that sparked significant debate and delayed the bill. The House sought to decouple lawmaker pensions from the judicial pay raise to avoid increasing their own retirement benefits, but the Senate opposed this, leading to a tense negotiation resolved by maintaining the link for now. The compromise includes delinking future judicial pay raises from legislative pensions, with the Texas Ethics Commission set to review pension increases every five years starting in 2030. The pay raise aims to address the loss of qualified judicial candidates due to low salaries and improve the quality of the judiciary. The bill now heads to Governor Greg Abbott for signature after passing both chambers with bipartisan support despite earlier contention.