A proposal to nearly double state lawmakers’ salaries is at an impasse – for now – after a citizens' committee deadlocked on a tie vote Thursday.
The proposal would tie pay to a percentage of Idahoans’ average household income, ultimately coming out to $37,801. Right now, legislators earn a minimum salary of $19,913 annually.
In exchange, the measure would end some per diem expenses for legislators.
The Idaho Constitution tasks a citizen’s committee with proposing any changes to legislative compensation every two years.
Lawmakers do not have to accept the committee’s report and can reject the proposal when they return to Boise in January.
Top leaders for each party also get an additional pay bump for their roles.
The House Speaker and Senate Pro Tempore, which have long been Republicans, would see an extra $9,500 while minority leaders would receive an additional $3,500 each year.
“There are a lot of good people that will just not even put their name on a ballot because they don’t want to put up with all the crap that we put up with,” said Senate Pro Tem Chuck Winder (R-Boise), who presented the proposal.
Winder, who lost his primary race in May and won’t return to the legislature next year, said the low pay dissuades people who aren’t independently wealthy, retired or who have jobs that will let them serve for three months each year.
“No young person that I know of with a family can afford to come, give up the time in a regular job and come for what’s paid here,” he said.
Speaker Mike Moyle (R-Star) agreed. Moyle said younger people with families experiencing the current education system, for example, bring a more accurate perspective on those issues than what he experienced raising his kids years ago.
“We’ve created a situation in Idaho where those younger folks that we have today, they’re not going to be with us long because they can’t afford what it costs to [serve] in this building,” Moyle said.
The proposal split committee members Thursday, with one member requesting legislative staffers compile more data during an unexpected break.
Another member, Joanne Stringfield, a retired HR executive at Micron, said tying legislative salaries to an average household’s income, which usually factors in two people’s pay, doesn’t make sense.
“We’re talking about compensating one person. And so, I feel like maybe that isn’t the right benchmark for us,” Stringfield said.
Former Department of Administration director Bryan Mooney also hesitated. Mooney voted against the proposal but said he could eventually be persuaded.
“I’d just like a little more time to absorb it,” he said.
The committee will reconvene Nov. 6.
Salaries among state legislators vary wildly across the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Lawmakers in New Mexico, for example, don’t draw any salary. But they’re paid $191 a day in per diem, plus mileage reimbursement for sessions that range between 30 and 60 days in length.
As of 2023, New York legislators earn $142,000 annually for a six-month session.
Idaho lawmakers last rejected a pay raise in 2009 during the Great Recession when they were forced to cut more than 20% of the general fund budget over two years.
The committee didn’t recommend a pay for the 2011-2012 session.
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