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State salaries

Lawmakers deserve adequate pay for a largely thankless job

With just one day remaining in the Colorado Legislature’s 2015 session, lawmakers are taking up a matter of business that citizens should support: pay increases for elected officials.

While pay raises for politicians often is a proposal steeped in cliché that provokes knee-jerk cynicism, Colorado’s lawmakers – particularly its legislators – are paid quite poorly for the significant task they are assigned. Furthermore, lawmakers last received a raise in 1999, and the one the Legislature is debating in the session’s final hours would not take effect until 2019. Nearly everyone deserves a raise every 20 years, and that certainly is true of those elected to craft, implement and interpret our laws.

Senate Bill 288 passed the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday, then traveled swiftly to the House, where the Finance Committee was to take up the matter either Tuesday or Wednesday. If it is approved, the measure would deliver significantly fatter paychecks to legislators and statewide elected officials, including the governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state. It also would give county elected officials a raise according to a population-based formula that sets the rates for those officials across the state. There are currently six such categories; SB 288 would subdivide those into four subgroups for a total of 24 county categories. The bottom line would be a long-needed boost in pay for those peoples who are elected to office.

In many of their cases now – particularly state legislators whose districts are far afield from Denver – the cost of serving outweighs the compensation. Members of the General Assembly are paid $30,000 annually – a low wage by most measures. SB 288 would increase that to $38,000, beginning with the 2019 session. It still is a far cry from executive pay but will make the prospect of serving in the Legislature slightly more feasible for qualified candidates. That is a significant issue: Those who can earn a wage higher than $14.42 an hour typically will, and while the hourly rate increases when applying it only to a five-month legislative session, doing so overlooks the significant committee work that is done in the off-months. Those who commit the time and energy required to do that work well and serve constituents effectively must be adequately compensated. Failing to do so can deliver fewer good lawmakers to the Capitol. The laws that follow run the risk of reflecting that.

The same is true for statewide elected offices. The governor, who currently earns $90,000, instead would be paid $117,000. The attorney general would see a bump from $80,000 to $102,000, while the treasurer and secretary of state would be paid $88,000 – up from the $68,500 they currently earn. These are generous salaries but are appropriate to the demands of the offices. Chief executives and lead attorneys in the private sector earn far more than the increased pay proposed in SB 288. Luring those people into public service requires just compensation. Today’s rates do not meet that standard.

The increased county pay rates will provide a boost to future office-holders. Beginning in 2019, La Plata County commissioners, treasurers, assessors and clerks would see a jump in pay from $72,500 to $94,250, while sheriffs will be paid $114,010 – up from $87,500. These are large raises for those hired to do essential public service. They are appropriate, and the Legislature should ensure that future lawmakers are paid appropriately.



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