The House Appropriations Committee has stopped an effort to increase the annual salaries of state lawmakers from $16,800 to around 39-thousand dollars. The panel rejected the proposal on a 16-5 vote. New Orleans Representative Jason Hughes voted against the bill…
“You know teachers deserve a pay raise. Our hardworking men and women in law enforcement certainly deserve a pay raise. State workers and the list goes on.”
Hughes believes an independent commission should be established to determine the salary of legislators.
Gretna Representative Joe Marino led the effort to raise the pay of lawmakers. He says being a legislator is time consuming and a higher salary would result in a larger pool of candidates in wanting the job…
“The value of the pay is so low that only a small group of people have the privilege to run. Then I’d like to open this up to representative government and you can’t get there with sixteen-eight.”
The salary for state legislators has not changed since 1980. But Prairieville Representative Tony Bacala says he ran for the job knowing the salary and it will not give lawmakers give themselves a pay raise
“I think confidence in government is important that people know that we’re here. Not to make a ton of money but just to serve and service certainly does not come without some pay.”
The raise would have started next year when a new Louisiana Legislature is sworn in.
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