By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Wyoming DigestWyoming Digest
  • Home
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Legislature
  • Native America
  • People
  • Places
  • Policy
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release
Reading: As legislative workload balloons, lawmakers examine compensation
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
Supporting Ukraine through Consumer Power: Creative Efforts to Revive the Economy
February 6, 2023
January 24 in Wyoming’s history: What happened on the day
January 24, 2023
Staying Informed in the Cowboy State: Wyoming’s Top 10 Most Popular News Sites
January 19, 2023
Understanding the Impact of Pharmaceutical Marketing Agencies in Wyoming’s Healthcare Industry
January 4, 2023
Unconventional Applications of Big Data: How Data is Revolutionizing Industries and Fields
January 2, 2023
Aa
Aa
Wyoming DigestWyoming Digest
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Legislature
  • Native America
  • Natural Resources
  • Opinion
  • People
  • Places
  • Policy
  • Home
  • Education
  • Energy
  • Legislature
  • Native America
  • People
  • Places
  • Policy
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Advertise
© 2022 Foxiz News Network. Ruby Design Company. All Rights Reserved.
Wyoming Digest > Blog > Legislature > As legislative workload balloons, lawmakers examine compensation
Legislature

As legislative workload balloons, lawmakers examine compensation

Kenneth Wolfe
Last updated: 2022/08/02 at 11:19 AM
Kenneth Wolfe Published August 2, 2022
Share
SHARE

Lawmakers have asked the Legislative Service Office to draft a bill that would increase their daily reimbursements.

The Subcommittee on Legislator Compensation met Friday to discuss changing lawmaker compensation in light of an ongoing increase in workloads. 

Born from the Management Council, the subcommittee was created to examine the topic and draft legislation after data from the Legislative Service Office indicated a significant rise in the number of interim meeting days. In 2005 — the last time lawmaker salary was boosted — the Legislature met for a total of 103 days, according to the LSO. In 2021, there were 155 meeting days. Those numbers do not include regular sessions or special sessions, two of which have occurred since 2020. 

Though pay has held steady, many longtime lawmakers say the nature of the job has changed, with increasingly complex interim topics stacking up. That’s raised questions about who has the means and ability to serve the state and who does not. That disparity is reflected in the demographics of the Legislature, which consists largely of retirees and the self-employed, who can absorb the additional costs or time away, according to Rep. Mike Greear (R-Worland). 

“People who are retired are very important, [they’re a] great segment of our state. However, we need younger people — we need younger people of both genders,” Greear said at the subcommittee meeting. 

Wyoming is one of the few states that constitutionally requires legislative action to raise lawmakers’ salaries, so the Legislature will need to pass a bill in order to bump pay. That’s proven to be a challenge. 

Twenty bills have either been numbered or introduced since 2001 that would modify legislator compensation, per diem pay, constituent service allowances and other benefits, according to the LSO. Only five of those have become law. The most recent success came in 2020 when lawmakers passed a bill to provide workers compensation coverage for legislators. (Lawmakers will become eligible to enroll in that program in January.) 

“We haven’t been able to do much as a body in terms of even talking about our per diem, salary, these benefits or lack thereof, because of what I’ve called ‘the optics’ of it appearing that we are raising our own salaries,” Rep. Cathy Connolly (D-Laramie) said. 

Regardless of appearances, lawmakers’ hands are somewhat tied by the state constitution. While they can increase the base salary for the next body of lawmakers, according to LSO’s Matt Obrecht, they cannot do so for themselves. In other words, the 67th Wyoming Legislature could not raise their own salaries, but could for the 68th. 

Per diem rate refers to a daily allowance to cover the expenses associated with serving. Unlike salary, per diem rate is not considered as a constitutional compensation, so could be changed with the passage of a bill, effective immediately. In 2019, lawmakers passed a bill to adjust per diem rates based on the federal amount — a practice adopted by most states, according to the LSO. 

Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed that bill since it cut those rates by 50% for lawmakers with primary residences within 25 miles of the Capitol Building in Cheyenne. 

Since then, lawmakers’ per diem has remained at $109. 

State representatives on the House floor in the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne in March 2021. (Mike Vanata/wyomingdigest.com)

As for base salary, the state pays legislators $150 a day for each day they are in Cheyenne for a session, including weekends, and each day of an interim committee meeting. Lawmakers are paid $109 a day for travel to and from the session and for the days before and after interim meetings in the instance that they have to leave their hometowns to attend. Mileage compensation is pegged to the federal rate, currently 58 cents per mile. Lawmakers also receive some pay when not in session — though how many days of salary and at what rate depends on considerations like committee roles — as well as a $750 constituent service allowance per quarter, among other things. 

“Because of different constitutional setups, different statutory schemes, it’s never going to be a perfect comparison at all,” Obrecht told lawmakers in reference to how Wyoming stacks up against other states. Direct comparison of legislator daily salaries can be misleading since some states, such as Kansas and Nevada, pay lawmakers for each calendar day while others, like Utah, only pay for session and interim meeting days. The New Mexico Constitution, meantime, prohibits state legislators from receiving a salary or any compensation other than per diem and mileage reimbursement. 

“Wyoming is one of nine states (Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) that pay legislators a daily salary for session or interim calendar or legislative day,” according to the LSO. Among them, Wyoming’s compensation falls midpoint between the lowest state (Kansas with $88.66) and the highest (South Dakota with $348.94). 

Wyoming’s average two-year legislator salary is about $26,355, according to the LSO. For comparison, that rate is about $61,500 for Colorado lawmakers, $24,000 in Nebraska and $35,700 in Idaho. 

Direct comparison may be difficult, but there are other clear distinctions. Wyoming is the only state to not provide some type of insurance benefit. That’s one of the most glaring compensation issues, according to Rep. Landon Brown (R-Cheyenne). 

“Speaking from a situation where my previous employer, I had to give up [health] insurance to come serve,” Brown said, “it was a big issue for me to step away.” 

Idaho and Montana provide supplemental compensation to legislators with large districts. That’s something Connolly expressed interest in during Friday’s meeting. Other committee members, including Sen. Cheri Steinmetz (R-Lingle) suggested a stipend-type offering to assist lawmakers in hiring contract work. Sen. Mike Gierau (D-Jackson) proposed a “cafeteria” plan, where lawmakers could pull from a general fund to use for something like contract work or to opt into the state health insurance plan. 

The subcommittee plans to meet again in October to further discuss those options. In the meantime, LSO has been charged with drafting a bill to raise the per diem rate. 

The post As legislative workload balloons, lawmakers examine compensation appeared first on wyomingdigest.com.

You Might Also Like

Lawmakers to consider expanding trespass definitions

Lawmakers seek to restrict secretary of state’s authority

State board certifies Wyoming’s primary elections results

Primaries set most of Legislature, general will decide balance of power

Here’s who won in Wyoming’s primary elections

Kenneth Wolfe August 2, 2022
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Email Copy Link Print
Previous Article Five challengers vying to oust incumbent Gov. Gordon
Next Article PPP loan records contradict GOP’s federal funding stance
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Supporting Ukraine through Consumer Power: Creative Efforts to Revive the Economy
People
January 24 in Wyoming’s history: What happened on the day
Native America
Staying Informed in the Cowboy State: Wyoming’s Top 10 Most Popular News Sites
Opinion
Understanding the Impact of Pharmaceutical Marketing Agencies in Wyoming’s Healthcare Industry
Opinion

You Might Also Like

Legislature

Lawmakers to consider expanding trespass definitions

August 31, 2022
Legislature

Lawmakers seek to restrict secretary of state’s authority

August 28, 2022
Legislature

State board certifies Wyoming’s primary elections results

August 28, 2022
Legislature

Primaries set most of Legislature, general will decide balance of power

August 24, 2022
//

We influence 20 million users and is the number one business and technology news network on the planet

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

[mc4wp_form id=”55″]

© 2022 wyomingdigest.com. All Rights Reserved.

Join Us!

Subscribe to our newsletter and never miss our latest news, podcasts etc..

[mc4wp_form]
Zero spam, Unsubscribe at any time.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?