Given that lawmakers are in session for 40 days, a roughly $38,842 raise might be a tough sell, but that has not stopped Sen. Valencia Seay (D - 34) from proposing a bill in the state senate to give legislators a pay bump.

 

Currently, most legislators make $17,341.68 and they are asking for the raise to be equivalent with the median annual household income for citizens in the state of Georgia as determined by the U.S. Census. This would raise their annual salary to $53,843.00.

 

Let’s break down these numbers as it relates to the 40-day session:

  • Current income: $17,341.68 which equals $433.54 per day
  • With the salary raise: $53,843.00 which equals $1,346.08 per day
  • If they were in session all year round, this would mean lawmakers would make a yearly income of $491,317.36, which far surpasses the median annual household income in the State of Georgia.

It is important to note that many legislators also have full-time jobs outside of the Gold Dome. Beyond their work as a public servant, many fill out the remainder of their calendar year working as attorneys, business owners or are real estate developers. For example, Sen. Jennifer Jordan (D - 6) is a partner at Shamp Jordan Woodward.

 

When approached with the argument that lawmakers don't work a full year and many might consider their duties to be "part-time" Seay responded by pointing out that members of the Georgia General Assembly, “are in session for 40 days, but on the 42nd day or the 41st day, we don’t stop being a senator. We do a lot more work when we are not in session, so it is not a part-time position, but it is part-time pay.”

 

Additionally, Seay points out that for some, serving in the general assembly may result in financial loss. “A lot of my colleagues, who are fairly well off, lose money to come serve because the time they have to take away from their practices hurt them monetarily. There are many great statespersons who have left because they couldn’t afford to stay.”

 

Compensation for those working in state legislatures vary widely in the country. California is the highest paid ($107,241) while New Mexico doesn’t pay its legislators a salary at all. Georgia lawmakers fall sixth from the lowest on the list.

 

The bill also specifies per diem reimbursements for work done outside of the legislative session that is not to exceed $7,000.00 per year or around $173.00 per day. These reimbursements cover lodging, meals, per diem differential, postage, personal services, printing and publications, rents, supplies (including software), telecommunications, transportations, utilities, purchasing or leasing of equipment and other reasonable expenditures directly related to the performance of a member’s duties.

 

"I don't think this has a chance," says Daniel Franklin, Associate Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University. "It is being sponsored by Democrats and while I do think the leadership does think this is a good idea, it is wildly unpopular in the eyes of the public, and at some point legislation has to listen to the public.”

 

While Franklin does believe that legislators deserve the raise, he notes the optics won't work in their favor. 

 

"It is a misrepresentation to say it is a massive increase," says Franklin, "the problem with not paying public officials enough money is that working-class people can’t serve.”

 

With a salary increase, those who have signed onto this bill hope to remove the barrier that prohibits many from seeking public office.

 

In the 19 years that Senator Seay has been in legislation, she says she has never seen a pay increase. 

 

“The body that I have been entrusted to serve," says Seay, "should be for anybody not just for those with the means.”

Tags: Salary  Valencia Seay  2019 Georgia Legislative Session  Atlanta  Georgia  Macon  Savannah