Apr. 30, 2007
What’s the Deal with Legislative Pay?
By Chris Heagarty
RALEIGH - Here’s an idea for a new game show: if you could pay yourself anything, as the fair value for the hard work that you do, would you be responsible about it or try and push your luck to get more? Maybe a hundred grand, a million, even two million? Now here’s the catch: you can set your own pay, but if your boss thinks it is too high, you’re fired. No second chances. Deal or no deal?
The power to set legislative pay resides in the hands of the legislators themselves, but it is rarely increased for fear of voters’ reaction. Politicians are wary of appearing greedy or irresponsible to the voters. Any self-authorized pay hike, deserved or not, will be met with public skepticism at best and will put a legislator’s reelection in jeopardy.
Legislative pay is low. The salary is $13,951 per year. Our legislators haven’t had a salary increase since 1995 and receive a daily expense rate of $104. Inflation makes this worth even less now than it was 12 years ago.
Many people’s gut reaction is “so what?” Isn’t public service its own reward? Should money really matter?
To answer that, people should decide if they could live on that salary. Assume that you have to quit your job in order to serve because your boss won’t give you three to six months off each year, with pay, to go to Raleigh. Some people live on $14,000 a year and do fine. But now add in the cost of a second home in Raleigh for three or four nights each week, meals, and the weekly commute back home. Now how attractive is that salary?
With low pay for legislators, we create a system where only people already rich, or retired, can afford to serve. If we want to make it possible for good people from all walks of life to represent us, we need a different system.
Fortunately, there’s a better way. If the problem is whether or not voters trust legislators to set their own pay, let’s turn it around. Let the voters determine legislative pay.
No, we don’t need an election each year to set their salary. A number of other states use a citizens’ compensation commission to ensure that their representatives are fairly paid, while taking the decisions out of the hands of the legislators.
The commission should hear testimony and research, make comparisons to other jobs, and meet regularly to set salary. Most importantly, the commission should consist mostly of regular citizens, selected to serve in a manner similar to jury duty. No cronies who might be inclined to be extra-generous. If a sampling of experts needs to be included on the commission, they should be appointed based on their resumes and not their politics.
Twenty states already have compensation commissions. Some of these commissions advise the governor or legislature, though the ultimate say on compensation remains with the elected officials. Other states have opted to make the recommendations of their commission law. In the state of Washington, the compensation set by the citizen commission is not subject to review by any politician.
Gone are the days when gentlemen farmers would take a few weeks off to come to Raleigh and attend to the public business. We need to make sure that regular folks can serve in the legislature and still pay their bills. But a low-wage legislature means that often only those who don’t need the salary can afford to serve. Legislators ask the public to trust them to set the budget and salaries for the rest of state government. It’s time for them to trust us to set reasonable legislative pay. We might just surprise them and make it more competitive. Deal or no deal?
Chris Heagarty is the executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.
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