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Senate debate intensifies over legislator pay, committee amendment circled for later action
Summary
Senators debated a committee amendment to raise legislative per diem to $100 and delayed final action by circling the bill amid objections over timing, optics and whether increases should wait until after elections; multiple floor amendments and a substitute motion were proposed.
Senate debate over legislator compensation centered on a committee amendment increasing legislative per diem to $100 with an effective date of Jan. 1, 1991. Sponsor Senator Black urged adoption of the commission’s recommendation and said an immediate rise would correct long-standing underpayment; opponents argued the timing and size of the increase risked political backlash.
Senator Black recounted the history of a citizen salary commission and the commission’s unanimous $100 recommendation. He said the legislature had historically delayed prior recommendations and urged members to take the commission’s latest advice. ‘‘We have done nothing since the first time the recommendation was made in, making the legislative salary,’’ he said, urging colleagues not to let inflation erode compensation for the time commitment required.
Senator Swan offered an amendment to strike the committee change and restore a $75 per diem effective sooner; Swan argued the committee amendment amounted to “window dressing” and that many senators would receive the increase automatically after staggered elections. Senator Hillard opposed Swan’s motion, saying members were elected under an understanding of a $65 per diem and that a midterm immediate increase would appear politically improper to the public.
After extended floor debate about fairness, political perceptions and alternative phased approaches, a substitute motion and then a motion to circle the bill were offered; the body voted to circle the bill for additional consideration at a later time rather than taking final action that day.
