Pay-raise ideas vary from little to lot

The members of a commission responsible for setting salaries for Arkansas elected officials want to raise pay for lawmakers but differ on the size of the increase.

Members of the Independent Citizens Commission aired their ideas for raising legislators' salaries, which ranged from modest increases to nearly tripling the current pay.

Members of the commission have met five times since Nov. 4, the day Arkansans voted to create the commission, but Friday's meeting marked the first time members publicly voiced their thoughts on salary ranges.

The vice chairman of the commission, Chuck Banks, said Friday that he thought legislators should make nearly triple the $15,869 they earn annually. He recommended $45,000 for legislators and $50,000 for committee chairmen, and suggested that the speaker of the house and Senate president pro tempore should make $55,000 per year.

The median household income for Arkansans between 2009 and 2013 was $40,768, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The national average was $53,046.

Currently, Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and the Senate pro tempore, Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, both earn $17,771.

"Personally, I think it's too low," Banks said. "The right thing is to step on up and not worry about the media criticism [of a higher salary], if you believe this is not creating a full-time Legislature but properly and fairly compensating these people because I guarantee they do two-thirds of a full-time job."

Arkansas' legislative salaries are considerably lower than the salaries of lawmakers in Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri, according to data compiled by the commission.

On Wednesday, Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, testified before the commission and urged the commission not to raise legislators' pay because doing so would undermine the part-time, "citizen Legislature" tradition of the General Assembly.

Weeks ago, Gillam told the commission that his colleagues' workload has been steadily increasing and they now have year-round obligations.

While Banks' recommendation was on the high end, the commission's chairman, Larry Ross, suggested more modest raises.

Taking into account the state's gross domestic product, population, cost of living and other factors, Ross recommended a 20 percent raise, which would result in a $19,050 base salary for legislators and a $21,325 salary for the leaders in both chambers.

"[Legislators] knew what they were signing on for," Ross said. "I have the responsibility of the people's money and I want to at least be accountable."

The other five commission members also favored raises.

Barbara Graves said she was leaning toward a 30 percent overall increase while Stephen Tipton said he thought a raise to $25,000 was fitting.

Mitch Berry, who didn't offer a hard number but said his suggestion would be similar to Graves' or Tipton's, described a discussion with a veteran lawmaker who warned him against raising the salaries too much.

"[He said] 'If you raise my salary up to $40,000 or $50,000, I'll have to give it to charity because [voters] will run me out of here'," Berry recounted. "There will be such a backlash."

Commission member Brenda James said that she felt salaries needed to be raised so more Arkansans are able to serve.

"There is no way I could live off of $15,000 or $16,000 a year. We say [public service] is a choice but I wouldn't have a choice. I don't have a voice," James said. "[Let's] make the playing field a little bit more level so that diverse representation can be here for these offices."

The commission has until Feb. 2 to make salary adjustments for legislators, as well as other elected officials, if those adjustments exceed 15 percent.

Any salary adjustment after Feb. 2 would be capped at 15 percent.

The commission also is to make recommendations to the Legislature on lawmakers' mileage, office expenses and per diems.

Members largely agreed there was no need to get involved with mileage and office expenses but spent much of Friday's meeting wrangling with per diems, which they said have often, and sometimes rightly, drawn the ire of the public.

On average, legislators were paid $35,333 in 2013 for per diem, mileage and other expenses.

Berry suggested that legislators only get a per diem on days that the legislature is "gaveled in" instead of being assured five days of per diems every week during the legislative session, but the commission eventually agreed that legislators' work wasn't confined to the days that their chambers convene.

Another commission member said lawmakers should not be able to collect per diems when they attend legislative meetings for committees they do not serve on.

The committee agreed that it would be good to allow freshman legislators to collect half a per diem for attending extra meetings because it would help them learn.

Any recommendations to the Legislature regarding per diem, mileage or other expenses are not binding. The Legislature will decide on those rates.

Metro on 01/17/2015

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