After Months-Late Budget, State Lawmakers Get Annual Pay Increase

By Ian Karbal | Pennsylvania Capital-Star

An automatic cost of living adjustment bumped state lawmakers’ salaries to $113,000 per year, for rank and file members. 

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Pennsylvania legislators are among the highest paid in the country. The average pay for a state lawmaker nationally is $47,904, but that includes part-time legislatures.

The commonwealth’s legislature is full-time, convening in Harrisburg throughout the year. This year, there were 75 scheduled session days for House members, with three more on the calendar for later this month. The Senate met for 51 days, and has two more scheduled for before the year ends.

The raises are doled out automatically each year based on consumer price metrics. Legislation enacting the cost-of-living raises was enacted in 1995 and, as it stands, the pay bumps do not require a vote by lawmakers. Though some would like to change the practice.

In a now-infamous episode, lawmakers voted on a raise for themselves in 2005, during a 2 a.m. session. Legislators would have received raises of between 16% and 34%, depending on their position. However, the law was ultimately repealed. There was significant backlash from the public, and it resulted in a tidal wave of resignations and reelection losses.

A number of bills have been introduced over the years that would get rid of the automatic raise, including several this year. One introduced this session is sponsored by Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-Clinton).

Another introduced by Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) in January would allow lawmakers to refuse their cost-of-living wage.

Rep. Jeremy Shaffer (R-Allegheny) introduced a bill that would suspend automatic pay raises for legislators, the governor and the lieutenant governor any year that a budget is not passed by the constitutional deadline.

This year’s budget, which was due on June 30, was passed on Nov. 12.

“I think it’s completely unacceptable that it’s become the norm that our budget is late,” Shaffer said. “There needs to be some consequences”

Shaffer, who was elected on a reform platform that included support for term limits, also opposes the automatic raises more broadly. Moreover, he would like to see the legislature changed a full-time one to a part-time. 

As it stands, state lawmakers have a handful of session days scheduled every month, and often spend the rest of their time performing constituent outreach. Generally, a part-time legislature meets for one fixed block of time, spending weeks or months in the capital each year, to pass a budget and any new policies. The pay, too, is reflective of a part-time job, and many lawmakers hold other jobs.

“It helps people stay more focused,” Shaffer said. “And it helps when they return to their districts, they have a regular job and have to interact with their community more.” 

One lawmaker, Rep. Perry Stambaugh (R-Perry), introduced a resolution directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study on the possibility of such a change. Shaffer was a co-sponsor.

“In the private industry, pay is tied to performance, and right now there’s no such linkage for the state legislature,” Shaffer added. “Tying pay raises to actually delivering a budget on time seems like a very simple first step to try to tie pay to performance.”

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