June 24, 2004

Garton , Bauer name members to Public Officers Compensation Commission

INDIANAPOLIS --- Indiana House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer (D-South Bend) and Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton (R-Columbus) today announced their appointments to a new commission that will help determine salaries for the governor, legislators and other state public officers.

Garton's appointments are:

• MARY FINK of Fort Wayne, who works as tax manager for Steel Dynamics, Inc.
• JON O'BANNON of Floyds Knobs, who is vice chair-secretary and assistant publisher of O'Bannon Publishing and the son of the late Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon.

Bauer's appointees to the Public Officers Compensation Advisory Commission are:

• JOHN L. BARTLETT of Indianapolis, who will serve as the commission's chairman. Bartlett works as a tool and die maker at Allison Engine/Rolls Royce.
• LEE J. MARCHANT of Bloomington, president and Chief Executive Officer of L.J.M. Enterprises.

The commission will make recommendations on suitable salaries for the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, state attorney general, clerk of the Indiana Supreme Court, state Superintendent of Public Instruction, state Supreme Court justices, judges on the Indiana Court of Appeals and the Indiana Tax Court, judges for circuit, superior, probate and county courts in Indiana, and members of the Legislature.

These written recommendations will be made to the Legislative Council and the State Budget Committee no later than September 1 of each even-numbered year. Any recommendation made by the commission must be approved by the Indiana General Assembly before taking effect.

The commission consists of nine appointed members. In addition to the selections made by the Speaker and Senate President Pro Tempore, the governor and the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court must make two appointments each and the chief judge of the Indiana Court of Appeals a single selection.

-30-