BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 2322

By: Schofield

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The 2024 Report of the Texas Judicial Compensation Commission noted that, when adjusted for the cost of living at the district level, judges earning the base salary were among the lowest paid in the nation, ranking 49th out of 50 states. The bill author has informed the committee that compensation for the Texas judiciary not only lags behind other states but is raised so infrequently that by the time of the next increase, inflation has greatly eroded the purchasing power of judges' paychecks. The bill author has further informed the committee that this results in the legislature having to enact a large pay raise for the judiciary, which in turn lowers the legislature's initiative to enact any further pay raises for several sessions, by which time the cycle of inflationary erosion repeats itself. H.B. 2322 seeks to rectify this problem by creating a legislative structure to automatically index state judicial salaries to inflation to maintain the constant purchasing power of judicial compensation.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 2322 amends the Government Code to provide for biennial adjustments to the district judge base salary based on certain inflation data. The bill specifies that the annual base salary to which a district judge or judge of a division of the business court is entitled from the state for each year of a state fiscal biennium is the sum of the following amounts:

· the annual base salary from the state that is paid to the judge in the preceding state fiscal biennium; and

· that base salary amount multiplied by the average percentage change during the preceding state fiscal biennium in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), or, if that index is discontinued or superseded, a similar index the comptroller of public accounts selects or uses for calculation.

If the average percentage change in the CPI-U or other index during the prescribed period equals zero or less, the percentage change is calculated as zero.

H.B. 2322 applies beginning with the 2028-2029 state fiscal biennium.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.