Keith and stuff
12-09-2012, 01:51 PM
That is especially insidious. Now they make $20k a year in salary and another $20k a year in per diem. Plus, they get automatic raises every time they increase the pay of state workers so they have more incentive to increase the pay of state workers and less incentive to decrease the pay of state workers. The leadership is really loving this. They get a $3,582 increase. The economy is crap so the legislators in TN need more pay. It makes so much sense - reward failure.
Tennessee lawmakers get pay increase
By Tom Humphrey
Posted December 3, 2012 at 4 a.m.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/03/tennessee-lawmakers-get-pay-increase/
NASHVILLE — State legislators will be paid $1,194 more per year in salary during the 108th General Assembly than they were paid last session, an increase of about 6.28 percent, that will be the first boost in their base lawmaker pay since 2008.
The increase went into effect on Election Day, Nov. 6, in accord with a state law enacted in 2005, according to Connie Ridley, director of the Office of Legislative Administration. The law calls for automatic increases every two years based on the increases in average state employee compensation during the two-year period.
The first year the law took effect, 2006, saw legislator pay increase from $16,500 — where it had stood since 1988 — to $18,123. In 2008, it rose to $19,009. In 2010, after two years in which state employees got no salary increase, it was not changed, officials said.
The new base salary for a lawmaker will be $20,203, where it will remain for the duration of the 108th General Assembly, which will end in November 2014.
Under the same 2005 law, the speakers of the House and Senate get three times the salary of an average legislator. Thus, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey will now be paid $60,609 per year, up from $57,027.
In addition to their base salary, legislators also get $1,000 per month as a "home office allowance," a flat rate that is not subject to an automatic increase. They further receive a daily "per diem" expense allowance for each day they engage in legislative work, which will remain unchanged in the coming year at $173 per day. The "per diem" allowance follows a federal government standard for calculating the cost of a motel and meals in Nashville and the federal figure was unchanged this year.
Legislators are also paid mileage for driving from their home to Nashville for legislative meetings. The mileage rate, also tied to a federal formula, will increase a penny per mile for the upcoming session, from 46 cents to 47 cents, for the 108th General Assembly, officials said.
Then the article says that lawmakers in New Mexico don't have a salary. That's true but they make around $20k a year in per diem. Here is a good place for comparing the pay in all 50 states. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Comparison_of_state_legislative_salaries Lawmakers make the least in New Hampshire at $100 a year and the lowest per diem in the country but even $100 a year is way too much.
Nationwide, state legislator salaries vary dramatically, according to the National Conference of State Legislators website — from no pay in New Mexico to $95,291 per year in California.
Tennessee lawmakers get pay increase
By Tom Humphrey
Posted December 3, 2012 at 4 a.m.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/03/tennessee-lawmakers-get-pay-increase/
NASHVILLE — State legislators will be paid $1,194 more per year in salary during the 108th General Assembly than they were paid last session, an increase of about 6.28 percent, that will be the first boost in their base lawmaker pay since 2008.
The increase went into effect on Election Day, Nov. 6, in accord with a state law enacted in 2005, according to Connie Ridley, director of the Office of Legislative Administration. The law calls for automatic increases every two years based on the increases in average state employee compensation during the two-year period.
The first year the law took effect, 2006, saw legislator pay increase from $16,500 — where it had stood since 1988 — to $18,123. In 2008, it rose to $19,009. In 2010, after two years in which state employees got no salary increase, it was not changed, officials said.
The new base salary for a lawmaker will be $20,203, where it will remain for the duration of the 108th General Assembly, which will end in November 2014.
Under the same 2005 law, the speakers of the House and Senate get three times the salary of an average legislator. Thus, House Speaker Beth Harwell and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey will now be paid $60,609 per year, up from $57,027.
In addition to their base salary, legislators also get $1,000 per month as a "home office allowance," a flat rate that is not subject to an automatic increase. They further receive a daily "per diem" expense allowance for each day they engage in legislative work, which will remain unchanged in the coming year at $173 per day. The "per diem" allowance follows a federal government standard for calculating the cost of a motel and meals in Nashville and the federal figure was unchanged this year.
Legislators are also paid mileage for driving from their home to Nashville for legislative meetings. The mileage rate, also tied to a federal formula, will increase a penny per mile for the upcoming session, from 46 cents to 47 cents, for the 108th General Assembly, officials said.
Then the article says that lawmakers in New Mexico don't have a salary. That's true but they make around $20k a year in per diem. Here is a good place for comparing the pay in all 50 states. http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Comparison_of_state_legislative_salaries Lawmakers make the least in New Hampshire at $100 a year and the lowest per diem in the country but even $100 a year is way too much.
Nationwide, state legislator salaries vary dramatically, according to the National Conference of State Legislators website — from no pay in New Mexico to $95,291 per year in California.