Senator Musselman introduced Senate Bill 50 to remove the statutory cap on compensation for trustees of limited‑purpose local government entities (often called special service districts) and to require a public meeting before a district pays individual trustees for work.

The sponsor said many rural special service districts perform hands‑on work with small budgets and have historically set modest compensation caps; the bill would eliminate the arbitrary $5,000 cap and instead require transparency measures — specifically that any decision to pay a trustee be made in a public meeting and that the district budget be adopted separately in public proceedings. The sponsor also cited the state’s public‑pay transparency website as a backstop to prevent abuse.

Committee members and the sponsor said the bill strikes a balance between allowing districts to pay for necessary work and preserving public oversight. Representative Miller moved to recommend the bill favorably; the committee approved the recommendation unanimously.

Sponsor and supporters emphasized the bill’s accountability features: public meetings and existing public‑pay disclosure tools would enable citizens to review compensation decisions and reduce the risk of misuse.