Legislators are talking about raising their pay. It’s long past time to do it. They haven’t had a raise in about 20 years and they need fair compensation.
Pay for a state legislator is about $14,000 a year. They get $104 per diem when the legislature is in session and they get compensated for their mileage. That’s not a lot of money for people who spend much of their time overseeing the state.
Regardless of whether you agree with legislators or not, most of the people who are elected are public servants. They aren’t trying to get rich and they don’t have great ambitions of power. They go to Raleigh to do what they think is in the best interests of their communities and the state.
North Carolina is the ninth largest state in the nation and we have an economy larger than many small countries. Overseeing the state takes time and talent. We should be paying enough to attract competent politicians to oversee our state government.
Not only do I support paying them more now, I think that increases in per diem and expenses should be tied to inflation. We should have a nonpartisan board that oversees actual salaries. Legislators now are at risk of political attacks if they vote to raise their own pay. That’s why we haven’t seen any increases in so long. It’s time to change that.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
The only way I would support a raise for legislators is if it were coupled with term limits, as defined below.
Mr. Mills is incredibly naive to be able to write the last of these three sentences:
“Most of the people who are elected are public servants. They aren’t trying to get rich and they don’t have great ambitions of power. They go to Raleigh to do what they think is in the best interests of their communities and the state.”
Please, Thomas. That may be true of many, even most, Democratic legislators, but every Republican now holding office has gone to Raleigh to do what he or she thinks is in the best interest of their party and their powerful underwriters. They don’t giving a flying Damn about “the best interests of their communities and the state.” If they did, they wouldn’t be trying every single day to destroy its institutions, its long tradition of bipartisanship, it’s dedication to progress and growth for its citizens, and its reputation as a bastion of enlightenment shining through the miasma of a post-Reconstruction South. (Yes, 152 years after the end of the Civil War, much of the South, and virtually all Republicans, are still fighting the Civil Rights amendments of Reconstruction and the premise and promises of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and the Great Society.)
These are people like Mr. Berger who got his son elected to the state Court of Appeals, and wants to use the power of his office to make the courts even more partisan — while blasting honest judges who rule against him as “legislating from the bench.”
No, sir, Mr. Mills. As hard as some legislators work, they do not deserve a raise. And if there should be a vote for a raise, it should be structured this way: Only future legislators would get the higher salary and per diem. ANY legislator in office when the raise is voted in would never be allowed to benefit from it; if they TRULY think that a raise is good business, vote for it, resign, and let it go to newly elected citizen legislators.
In other words, you want the money? Give up your power.
So are NC retired governmental employees public servants, who have worked all their lives for this state. NO raises for the GA until raises tied to actual inflation are provided for governmental retirees, most of whom haven’t had inflation-based raises in many years!
If you pay peanuts you get monkeys! The jobs should have pay rates that attract professionals with real world skills and knowledge. You don’t want a legislature that pays poverty wages since only the independently wealthy can take the job and still afford to live & raise a family.
You already have to be independently wealthy to win a seat in either house of the NC legislature. Paying them more implies that you approve of their work. I think we should LOWER their salaries until they stop making NC the most regressive state in the Union.
My legislators can not be found. They, like all the other republicans, are in hiding. Presnell and Hise continue to avoid their constituents. Therefore our ‘representative government” is non-functioning. A pay raise at this time is reprehensible b/c they’re not doing their job. More for the slackers and the public gets screwed.
If we had a real citizen legislature I would certainly agree that we need to compensate legislators for their service. However, in our current state of affairs, ordinary citizens can no longer afford to run for legislative positions. Only the rich can run an effective campaign when forced to compete with the massive amount of money required for candidates. I’ll pass on raises for now.
I agree that the legislators should receive a raise, but only on the condition that they stop their efforts to legislate that local races be partisan, especially judicial races. As stated by many, in practice that requirement eliminates independents or unaffiliated. I also want to see greater limitations while in office on any employment that requires dealing with state agencies and much, much longer time limits before becoming a lobbyist after leaving a legislative position. I also want that time constraint to include top level staff positions in legislature, agencies, and governor’s staffing and cabinet appointees. Right now the ethics of the NC governmental system does not pass the smell test. More pay is basically a sound idea, except for those already taking advantage of a system to keep themselves in power.
Hell NO!! They do not deserve a raise. They make laws that are not clear and can only be interpreted by an attorney who make money off everything!!!! Laws should be clear, and able to be interpreted by anyone who reads it. One law at a time, stop cramming bullcrap in with important laws. Cut out some unnessary Government like the Industrial Commission who only makes it easier for Insurance Company’s. Then cut out all goverment who don’t help the people.
Hell NO!! They do not deserve a raise. They make laws that are not clear and can only be interpreted by an attorney who make money off everything!!!! Laws should be clear, and able to be interpreted by anyone who reads it. One law at a time, stop cramming bullcrap in with important laws. Cut out some unnessary Government like the Industrial Commission who only makes it easier for Insurance Company’s. Then cut out all goverment who don’t help the people.
Hell NO!! They do not deserve a raise. They make laws that are not clear and can only be interpreted by an attorney who make money off everything!!!! Laws should be clear, and able to be interpreted by anyone who reads it. One law at a time, stop cramming bullcrap in with important laws. Cut out some unnessary Government like the Industrial Commission who only makes it easier for Insurance Company’s. Then cut out all goverment who don’t help the people.
Hell NO!! They do not deserve a raise. They make laws that are not clear and can only be interpreted by an attorney who make money off everything!!!! Laws should be clear, and able to be interpreted by anyone who reads it. One law at a time, stop cramming bullcrap in with important laws. Cut out some unnessary Government like the Industrial Commission who only makes it easier for Insurance Company’s. Then cut out all goverment who don’t help the people.
Hell NO!! They do not deserve a raise. They make laws that are not clear and can only be interpreted by an attorney who make money off everything!!!! Laws should be clear, and able to be interpreted by anyone who reads it. One law at a time, stop cramming bullcrap in with important laws. Cut out some unnessary Government like the Industrial Commission who only makes it easier for Insurance Company’s. Then cut out all goverment who don’t help the people.