Legislature 2008: Legislator Pay

Some West Virginians remain sore over the last time the Legislature voted itself a pay raise, in 1994. Howls are likely after the House passed such a measure to the Senate late Tuesday.

For critics, the debate ends with the fact that delegates and senators are part-time: their basic duties are the annual, 60-day session, plus monthly interim meetings the rest of the year that each last three days.

Supporters note that a citizen commission recommended the bill's provisions last year. Lawmakers from both parties also argue that the job has evolved to one made virtually full-time. Besides addressing constituent requests, they say, there's the travel, particularly for those representing the Eastern Panhandle.

Those legislators include Delegate Locke Wysong, D-Jefferson. He sought to explain his support for Tuesday's bill, and his successful amendment that included a $5,000 salary raise for all lawmakers.

"We have gotten to a point where you have to be retired, independently wealthy or live as a pauper to serve the people of the state of West Virginia in the Legislature," Wysong told fellow House members, as The Associated Press reports.

The subsequent applause suggests a number of his colleagues agree. hjWysong said he proposed the amendment because he would not be around to benefit from it, as it would take effect in 2009: he "counted himself among lawmakers not seeking re-election this year because they can no longer afford it," AP reports.

The 1994 raise increased salaries from $6,500 to $15,000. The pending bill would hike them to $20,000. It also increases several daily payments received by non-commuting legislators (who live too far from Charleston to go home every day during session), party leaders in each chamber and the House speaker and Senate president.

Those latter leaders would see the biggest bump from these per diem increases, $6,000 more for a regular session alone. The bill would also remove language requiring them to work from the Capitol to receive such pay, and lift a cap on the number of days eligible for payment.

The Senate passed a pay raise bill last year, only to see the House ignore it. The session ends March 8. Besides AP, those reporting on the pay raise proposal include The Register-Herald of Beckley, MetroNews (with audio from the floor debate) and The Charleston Gazette.