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Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Zimmerman, Friday night dropped his opposition to the pay raise set by the Legislative Salary Council earlier this year.

The council was established when voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 to take power away from the Legislature to set its own pay.  It increased lawmakers’ annual salary from $31,140 to $45,000.

The Senate moved forward with the new salary on July 1, but the House did not, because Daudt ordered House staff not to pay it.

“While I personally object to the establishment of the Legislative Salary Council, Minnesota voters supported the approach," Daudt said. "In light of recent court rulings and with the advice of counsel, it has become increasingly clear that the Minnesota House is constitutionally required to pay legislators the prescribed amount. We intend to move forward by instituting the salary set by the Council."

His move came a day after two lawmakers, one a Republican and one a Democrat, 

Daudt said rather than go to court, he would use money from House reserves to pay the higher salaries. And he once again asked DFL Gov. Mark Dayton to drop his appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court of the legal dispute over his use of the line-item veto to eliminate funding for the House and Senate. A Ramsey County judge ruled against Dayton in that case 

“It seems unnecessary to use taxpayer dollars to ultimately receive the same direction from the courts. Similarly, I encourage Gov. Dayton to be a leader and accept the court's ruling on the separation of powers case," Daudt said.

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House speaker says he will allow a pay raise for House members to take effect.

Daudt gives in, will give House a raise

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