Weekly Opinion Editorial
Legislative Pay is
not the Problem!
by Steve
Fair
The Oklahoma legislative
compensation board is a nine member panel that meets the third Tuesday of each
odd numbered year to review state legislative compensation. The Governor appoints five of the nine
members, the Speaker of the House two members and the President pro tempore of
the Senate two members. There are
specific qualifications for the members to insure a cross section of
Oklahomans. The Director of State
Finance and the Chairman of the Oklahoma Tax Commission serve as non-voting
members of the board. For the past sixteen
years, the board hasn’t adjusted-up or down- the salaries of the 149
legislators, but this year the board narrowly voted 4-3 to reduce the base
salary of a state legislator from $38,400 to $35,021 annually, an 8.8% cut. It
will be effective November 15, 2018.
Of the five states bordering
Oklahoma, Arkansas pays their lawmakers the most- $39,400 a year, Texas the
least- $7,200 a year. Oklahoma
legislators, like 40 other states are part time. They meet in regular session 60-70 days per
year from February to May. Three
observations:
First, the board’s action was
more about optics than substance. The
savings to state taxpayers will be $503,471 annually, certainly nothing to sneeze
at, but that is just a tiny percentage of the nearly seven billion the
legislature appropriates annually. The
board took the action to send a message, but it wasn’t the right one. Wes Milbourn, the board president, said, “Oklahomans right now today are frustrated
with Oklahoma’s Legislature.” So
using that logic, legislative salaries should be based on legislative
likeability? When Oklahomans like them,
they should get more money and less when we don’t like them?
Second, reducing the salary
for a legislator could result in fewer options at the ballot box. Some potential lawmakers may not be able to afford
to serve, meaning only the elite and wealthy would have the personal resources
to serve. That could result in fewer average Oklahomans
in the legislature.
Third, a workman is worthy
of his hire. Oklahoma lawmakers earn
their money. While they may meet only 66
days a year, they are always on the clock.
The last action the board took on legislative pay was twenty years ago
when they raised legislative pay from $32,000 to $38,400. That action was met
with anger by many Oklahomans because at that time it was twice what per capita
income of the average Oklahoman. If the
board had kept up with inflation, that $38,400 would be $58,500 in 2017.
The state
legislature represents the people and trying to starve them out or send half
them home(unicameral) is a not a strategy that will move the state forward. Lawmakers
should be paid a competitive wage for doing a difficult job. If they aren’t representing the people, they
should be defeated at the ballot box, not by withholding compensation. The
board’s action appears to be retaliatory for the budget fiasco and that is not
their constitutional function.
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