Deputy Premier Paula Cox yesterday pledged to turn down a 50 percent pay rise she'll be entitled to under a change of law.

MPs are today set to discuss plans to bring part-time Ministers' pay into line with their full-time Cabinet colleagues, lifting their salary from $100,000 to $150,000. The Finance Minister, who also works as a counsel for Ace, is thought to currently be Bermuda's only part-time Minister — and therefore the only immediate beneficiary from the Ministers and Members of the Legislature (Salaries and Pensions) Amendment Act.

However, Ms Cox told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "I have been paid as a part-time Minister from when I was first appointed as a Minister in 1998 and this continues up to the present.

"My commitment to working in the Ministry will continue to be consistent and constant and I do not intend to take any salary increase so long as I am employed, irrespective that I am entitled to a higher salary.

"If the bill is passed, I will continue to opt to be paid as if I were a part-time Minister. However, I welcome that the artificial distinction between part-time and full-time is being removed as either you are or you are not a Minister."

The bill — which Premier Ewart Brown will present to the House of Assembly this afternoon — removes the reference to part-time Ministers on the Government pay scale, with some claiming there's no such thing as a part-time Minister.

Some backbenchers questioned the timing of the move shortly after Ms Cox's much-criticised Budget hit taxpayers in the pocket, and after MPs deferred plans for a salary hike for the third year running in the light of the economic crisis.

And a United Bermuda Party spokesman said: "Why the Government feels the need to proceed with this legislation now is beyond us.

"Symbolically, it says much about their priorities. We look forward to the Minister of Finance doing the right thing. There is no other option in this climate and with her tax and spend Budget."

Ms Cox added that today's legislation affects all MPs who aspire to be Ministers.

"Current and former Ministers in this Government and prior governments have had other commercial interests — whether in terms of their employment, companies and/or professional practices," she said.

"The proposed amendment will not exclude anyone from being appointed as a Minister and it will allow anyone who has any other interest, whether because they have an ownership interest in a business or are practising a profession to be considered as a Minister.

"However, their continued service as a Minister will depend on how the Premier of the day assesses the quality of their work-product and the value of their contribution to the Cabinet."

Also today, MPs will debate legislation raising motor vehicle licences by five percent as well as a rise on licence duty on privately owned and livery cycles.

UBP Whip Cole Simons said the Opposition would continue to stress they believe taxpayers are having to foot the bill for Government's overspending.

The day will begin with more Budget debate, with five hours scheduled for the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing, including a section on Police. The Ministry was one of just three to get extra cash this year, its budget increasing from $137 million to $143 million as Bermuda attempts to get to grips with escalating gun violence.

A two-hour debate on the Environment Ministry will follow in the afternoon, including discussion on the Planning Department.