New Hampshire Lawmakers Have Never Gotten a Raise

In New Hampshire, lawmakers are still being paid like it's the 19th century. The Wall Street Journal reports the state's 424 House and Senate members earn $200 per two-year term, effectively $100 per January-to-June session, an amount cemented into the state constitution in 1889. (They do get their mileage covered.) That makes them the lowest-paid legislators in the country, far behind neighbors like Massachusetts, where lawmakers earn $82,000. House Speaker Sherman Packard, a Republican, calls the figure "ludicrous," and a bipartisan group now wants to strip the specific pay language from the constitution so future legislatures can actually debate what the job should pay.

It's far from a done deal. Amending the constitution requires big supermajorities in both GOP-led chambers and two-thirds support from voters. Some lawmakers argue that higher pay would make it possible for non-wealthy residents to serve; others insist public service should remain essentially unpaid. "We have pride in the fact we're called a volunteer legislature," says GOP Senate President Sharon Carson, who also teaches at a community college. And as the Journal points out, "it would take a hefty increase to make a real financial difference. ... Each House member represents roughly 3,500 residents in the state of 1.4 million people. If California's Assembly had a similar ratio, it would have more than 11,000 members." Read the full article here.