[StBernard] LEGISLATIVE PAY RAISE

[Westley Annis]

LEGISLATIVE PAY RAISE


The legislature today approved a pay raise for its members for the first
time in nearly thirty years.  I supported the raise, but only after it was
amended down to $37,500, which I felt was reasonable given the demands and
time involved in the job as well as impact that cost of living increases
would have had if they had been applied to the 1980 figure of $16,800.  I
was opposed to the original HB 672, which contained a raise to over $50,000,
which I felt was excessive.

After HB 672 containing the $50,000 raise passed the Senate, I received over
a hundred phone calls from constituents opposing the dramatic increase from
our pay of $16,800.  I spoke with nearly all of my constituents who called
and asked if the legislature deserved a pay raise after thirty years.  Most
did, but not to $50,000 and neither did I.  In talking with constituents,
many felt a figure in the $30,000 range would be more appropriate and so did
I given the increased complexity and time demands of the job. In addition,
cost of living adjustments to the $16,800 figure from 1980 would have
resulted in a salary actually in the $45,000 range which was also close to a
figure recommended by an independent commission.  Also many of my
constituents did not like the provision in HB 672 linking the salary with
Congressional pay.  That provision was removed in the amended version favor
of a cost of living increase.  I know that the increase more than doubles
our present salary, but again we had not had any increase in nearly 30
years. Since 1980, the salary for statewide elected officials and judges has
more than doubled, ranging from a 248% increase to a 306% increase.   

In addition, during my tenure in the legislature, we have given raises to
all public employees, including teachers, support workers and many other
government officials including sheriffs, clerks of court tax assessors.  I
would suspect that their salaries are also significantly higher than they
were in 1980.   It is important to note that the legislature, unlike nearly
all other state or local officials, is not provided retirement pay or health
care at retirement.  Legislators must also pay for their own health care.  

In addition, the office is no longer really a "part time" position with the
legislature meeting in no less than ten sessions during my four and one half
years in office.  In some states, the legislature meets once every two
years.  In addition, there are also time demands when the legislature is out
of session, including interim meetings and constituent activities.     

I sincerely feel that to attract quality people to a position, that they
need to be fairly compensated. Otherwise, there will not be capable people
interested in serving who are not otherwise wealthy or trying to profiting
from the system. The legislature has been in session for much of 2008 and I
think accomplished a great deal, including a $370 million tax decrease and
significant ethics and fiscal reform.  The ethics reform has closed a lot of
loopholes of people profiting from business dealings with the state and
required scrupulous financial reporting.

I know that there will be many who don't agree with the vote and would not
agree with any increase in pay.  I feel in my heart that this increase was
the right decision under the circumstances, although it is probably not the
most popular.  I would be happy to discuss my vote with anyone who is
interested.  My cell phone is  (985) 373-3939 .

Tim Burns