Do state legislators deserve a pay hike? Bill would up their pay for 1st time since 1980

Do state legislators deserve a pay hike? Bill would up their pay for 1st time since 1980
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In 1980, a Ford F-150 truck cost $5,600, a gallon of gas $1.25 and Louisiana legislators received a pay raise to $16,800.

Legislative pay has remained unchanged for the past 43 years but would more than double under a measure that passed the first step in the legislative process Tuesday.

House Bill 149 by Rep. Joe Marino would raise the base pay from $16,800 to $40,000. It won approval from the House and Governmental Affairs Committee on an 8-4 vote.

Marino’s HB 149 initially sought to raise legislative pay to $60,000, but he accepted limiting the increase to the $40,000, which Rep. Richard Nelson, who offered the change, said was fair because it is 75% of the state median household income. The pay would be adjusted automatically every four years in line with an increase or decrease in median household income.

“We should have a pay-for-performance metric for the Legislature,” Nelson, R-Mandeville, and a candidate for governor, said after the vote.

Legislators struggled with their role in setting their pay during the hour-long debate on Marino’s bill, and what a yes vote might mean during an election year.

“Some people, if they vote for this, it could cost them an election,” said Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, who is termed out of the House and is running for the state Senate.

In pitching his bill, Marino, an independent from Gretna who is an attorney, said statewide elected officials, sheriffs, district attorneys and state employees all have received a pay hike since 1980, but legislators have not gotten one “because of optics.”

He said that the low rate of pay has discouraged people from running for the Legislature and has played a role in the resignations of many legislators: 23 in the previous four-year term and 11 during the current term.

“No one leaving the Legislature is leaving for a lower paid job than this,” said Marino, who noted he wouldn’t benefit from a pay boost because he is not running for re-election. The $16,800 in 1980, because of inflation, is now worth $64,000, he noted.

Being a legislator is considered a part-time job, but Marino noted that the National Conference of State Legislatures found that Louisiana legislators typically spend about 75% of their time on legislative work.

In two comparable states, the pay in Alabama is $53,000, and in Arkansas it’s $44,000, Marino said.

Opponents of the pay raises questioned whether lawmakers deserve the increases.

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, said Louisiana has continued to rank at the bottom of too many national social and economic indicators.

“I don’t think the time is right for now,” he said.

Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, said that legislators should know when they run that serving is a sacrifice and noted that lawmakers also receive $6,000 for expenses per year and a per diem of $161. He suggested that if Marino wanted the pay increase, he should link it to legislators’ performance.

Several minutes later, Nelson offered the amendment to restrict the increase to $40,000 per year and to tie future salaries to the rise or fall in median household pay.

“I didn’t contemplate that amendment, but I like it,” Marino said afterward.

During the hearing, he said that Gov. John Bel Edwards had told him he could sign a bill that raises pay to $50,000 a year.

“At some point, somebody’s got to do something,” Edwards said Monday at the Press Club of Baton Rouge luncheon. “But it also has to be reasonable. If they raise their own pay and don’t do teachers and don’t do minimum wage, that becomes sort of a problem.”

Edwards wants lawmakers to raise teacher pay by $3,000 per year and boost the minimum wage of $7.25 to $14 per hour in 2028. It’s not clear that legislators will agree with him.

Since 1980, the Legislature has approved a pay raise once, in 2008, to $37,500. But facing a backlash from the public, led by conservative talk radio hosts, then-Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the measure.

Marino’s HB 149 faces several obstacles before it could become law. It next goes to the House Appropriations Committee. If it passes there, it would advance to the full House. From there, it would need Senate approval.

“It seems like it’s got a bit of life now,” Speaker Pro Tem Tanner Magee, R-Houma, said after the committee vote. “I’m not sure how long it’ll last.”

Voting for HB 149: Reps. Wilford Carter, D-Lake Charles; Daryl Deshotel, R-Hessmer; Ivey; Sam Jenkins, D-Shreveport; Rodney Lyons, D-Harvey; Magee; Nelson; and Malinda White, R-Bogalusa.

Voting against HB 149: Reps. Beaullieu; Foy Gadberry, R-West Monroe; Johnson; and Polly Thomas, R-Metairie.

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About Mary Weyand 15920 Articles
Mary founded Scoop Tour with an aim to bring relevant and unaltered news to the general public with a specific view point for each story catered by the team. She is a proficient journalist who holds a reputable portfolio with proficiency in content analysis and research. With ample knowledge about the Automobile industry, she also contributes her knowledge for the Automobile section of the website.

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