West Virginians are already decrying the Governor’s proposal to increase the legislature’s salary from $15,000 to $25,000 per year by 2009. Even the Charleston Daily Mail’s editorial page has joined the fracas.

Legislative pay increases are something easy to attack; that’s why there hasn’t been one since 1994. But before you grab your phone and let your representatives have it, consider a few things for a moment.

Our elected body is a citizen legislature. West Virginia’s founding fathers deliberatively wanted our representatives to be one of us who lived as we did and not be fulltime bureaucrats who lose touch with the unwashed public. But the lack of a competitive salary drives some of those who would be best suited to serve from ever considering it.

Consider the time it takes to be in the legislature. The National Conference of State Legislatures found that West Virginia has one of the busiest legislative bodies of our type. A Senator or Delegate has to leave their place of employment for 2 straight months out of the year. Then every month, for three days – Sunday through Tuesday – they must be at the capitol for interim meetings. And then when the Governor wakes up in a particularly productive mood, they are drug out of their homes once again for special sessions that usually last a week. Last year there were four.

If you don’t think that is difficult to do, stop reading this article and ask your boss for 64 workdays off plus 20 more for special sessions. See what I mean?

The legislators that do have bosses usually arrange a leave of absence from their work. During that time they forgo any wages but some continue to pay into their insurance program to keep it floating. Because the legislature is missing over 25% of the workdays, they must make up the money somehow.

A $15,000 legislative salary means any individual earning under $60,000/year is breaking even and those earning more will take a loss. $60,000 may seem like a lot of money, but we want smart, economically savvy, educated people making the decisions that will affect your life. That means people who know how to earn money and accumulate personal wealth as well as rise in their company.

Those who own businesses or are self-employed must figure out what a 25% reduction in their work means to their company. For many small business owners, if the owner does not do the work it does not get done. In private business, momentum is everything. Missing work and juggling phone calls between legislative duties costs small business owners – and lawyers who own their firms – even more.

Raising the income received attracts higher qualified people in the legislature. With an increase to $25,000/year, those earning $100,000 or less would not take a pay cut. And those earning marginally more could be persuaded to serve.

Raising salaries too high – say, above $28,000 – would attract people who would use the legislative salary as their sole source of income and would not work the rest of the year. Of course, that is contrary to our founder’s intentions.

There is a fear that raising salaries will attract the proverbial wealthy politician with the imported cigar. But keeping the salary at its currently level actually attracts the uber-wealthy; they are the only ones who can truly afford the job. Thankfully we have some fantastic legislators who neither make as little as $60,000 or are filthy rich. These sacrifice their time and their money to make a difference.

I may get brickbats thrown my way for supporting a pay raise, but you cannot deny our legislature works hard – most of them anyway. Paying good money for good people who make good decisions is priceless.

–

Just so the legislature avoids the appearance of trying to pad their own pocketbooks, I would like to see an amendment that exempts those currently in the legislature from receiving the raise as long as they maintain their seat.

Another alternative is to delay the pay raises until certain economic criteria are met.