The legislative pay issue
2023-04-12
Dear friend,
What should we pay our state legislators?
That's the topic of a bill that's on the move in the Senate, S.39: An act relating to compensation and benefits for members of the Vermont General Assembly.
Several states have full-time Legislatures with full-time salaries, for example, New York pays $110,000/year. See others here.
Vermont is one of the majority of states with a part-time Legislature, and a very-part-time salary. Your 150 State Reps earn $15,000/year plus a per diem for lodging, meals, and miles when in session. (That's a correction to what I've said previously -- $17k turned out to be optimistic.)
That compares favorably with New Hampshire, which pays $100/year, but with a very different system of 400 Representatives. I spoke recently with Rep there, who said she had joined a committee with a light workload in order to make the job work alongside earning a living.
In Vermont's Legislature, there are no Reps with a light workload. Committees and the job on the House floor is full-time Tuesday-Friday, January to May. And remember, the Constitution requires us to show up and vote. If you don't show up for work, the Sergeant-at-Arms could be dispatched to bring you in.
Many legislators, including myself, fit in paying work on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and here and there during the week, while also juggling family responsibilities and simple things like changing out my snow tires.
Back in January, I asked a former State Rep about legislative pay.
They said that being a State Rep was a good job for:
a younger person who's gaining "life experience"
or an older person who is retired, independently wealthy, or living off businesses they can afford to step away from.
Our youngest State Rep this session is Rep. Lucy Boyden, 22, a content marketer. She's followed by Rep. Esme Cole, 26, a grant writer.
From left, Rep. Kate Nugent, Rep. Lucy Boyden, the back of Rep. Julia Andrews' head, and Rep. Ela Chapin.
I fit in neither category. I'm middle-aged with minimal retirement savings and a couple of businesses that eke by (see my pre-election financial disclosure).
Speaking with another State Rep who juggles running a business at home with her work, Rep. Tesha Buss of Woodstock noted that serving in the Senate would be impossible. We can use electronics at our desks in the House, but they're against Senate rules. While the Senate does have a couple of younger members with younger families, Senators trend older.
I have a colleague who drives a school bus before coming into the House (Rep. Dennis LaBounty), someone who has testified to a House committee about losing her job because of the Legislature and is now becoming a real estate agent (Rep. Ashley Bartley), and a farmer who drives over an hour each day the House is in session to get home to tend his sheep and family (Rep. David Templeman).
Vermont's Legislative schedule was developed to accommodate the many full-time farmers in our historic ranks. I count four today including Rep. Templeman, Rep. Heather Surprenant and Rep. Henry Pearl, and Rep. Melanie Carpenter.
There's a lot of diversity of life experience, but there are also a lot of typical Vermonters you don't see in our ranks. Here are a few categories off the top of my head who I would say anecdotally are under-represented in the Vermont Legislature relative to Vermont's population:
BIPOC folks
office workers with 9 to 5 jobs
third-shift workers
doctors
retail workers
renters
low- to moderate-income Vermonters
EMS workers or volunteers
public safety officers or professionals
We have more than one State Rep currently undergoing daily chemo or struggling with other health issues. Many Reps are more private about mental health issues, but in private conversation, stress and other issues are prevalent. I know of several in recovery from alcoholism. Parenting kids from babies to grownups is common, and children of all ages are sources both of joy and stress.
Rep. Martin Lalonde, right, a lawyer, hunter, and watercolorist, is questioned on the House floor by Rep. Art Peterson, an Army vet, retired engineer, and football coach.
One's professional background is useful as a legislator. We have a couple lawyers. There are some healthcare workers, teachers, IT workers, one former and one current chef, public servants of various kinds, and many other walks of life. It's a good thing that there isn't one mold, because diversity of experience and perspective is valuable.
The strongest arguments I hear for increasing legislative pay to something comparable to an average job are:
Voters will have more choices, and candidates for office will have more qualifications and experience.
Voters will see more representatives from those under-represented populations, and it would be good to have those voices at the table.
The strongest arguments I hear against increasing legislative pay are that:
Elected leaders shouldn't vote their future selves a pay raise.
The Legislature should do less, and paying legislators less will help that.
If you have an opinion on S.39, call or write your Senator: https://legislature.vermont.gov/
You can email or call me, too, but I'm not going to have a Yes/No decision yet because the bill is in the Senate. The details have been changing on this bill on a daily basis. If it does come to the House for a vote, I'll decide then based on any specific proposed change in pay and benefits.
Most importantly, it will come down to what you think. It's my job to represent you. What do you think it should pay?
Whatever your State Reps make, the job is a privilege that I want the widest possible range of people to have access to.
Have you ever considered running for State Rep or Senate?
Have you ever thought you might like to, but counted yourself out for one reason or another?
Let me know. I would be happy to mentor anyone who's interested, whether in Windham-6 or elsewhere.
P.S. By the way, the former State Rep that I asked about legislative pay above is now a full-time lobbyist. There is a cadre of lobbyists in and around the State House every day, and they make more than we do. Just another piece of the puzzle.