The Idaho Senate voted to reject the 22% raise with Senate Concurrent Resolution 101. For the record the Idaho Freedom Foundation has not opposed a pay raise for legislators. We have stated that the 22% raise was simply too large. 

Unfortunately, the House response has been to suggest that legislators who believe they are overcompensated may donate their compensation to the Tax Relief Fund.

Further, the House resolution made a number of claims that can be challenged.

1. The legislative salaries have increased only 27% since 2005. While this is an accurate statement, it ignores the fact that 76% of the Legislature began service on or after 2019. What is the point of going back 20 years vs. 30 years or 40 years? Only two out of 105 legislators have served 10 or more terms. And for the last five years, legislators have kept up with the salary changes of other elected officials.
2. The resolution compares legislative pay to other state employees and elected officials without mentioning the other compensation that legislators receive: per diem for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses for those greater than 50 miles, which are non-taxable. While this might be expected, as members have to travel and pay for accommodations, those who live within 50 miles are provided with meal per diem payments. This is a luxury not offered to other state employees, nor are mileage payments for commuting. And then there is a lump sum constituent allowance. The point is not that members are getting excess compensation, but a comparison with state employees should include changes to total compensation and not just base salaries.
3. The resolution states that Idaho’s Legislature will rank 12th out of 25 part-time legislatures in compensation after the raise. The problem is that according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, there are only 14 part-time legislatures, and Idaho’s current salary is close to the midpoint. We would like to see the list of the 25 legislatures that are classified as part-time and by whom.
4. The resolution also mentions the lack of support staff, but this issue is solely within the control of the Legislature and has nothing to do with compensation. Our suggestion would be to reduce the executive branch headcount if more legislative headcount is needed.

While it might seem like we are nit-picking the resolution, we remain steadfast in our belief that legislators deserve a raise, but not one this big. And, more importantly, the consequences that are already manifesting themselves will be bigger raises for everyone and more spending overall. The pay increase being debated in the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee for state employees and teachers will already cost about $35 million more than the Department of Human Resources requested.

We hope we are wrong, but we see the adoption of HCR 4 as a gimmick that will make it harder for legislators to rein in spending. A more responsible resolution would have been to reduce the Citizens’ Committee increase from 22% to a number aligned with the 4 to 5% expected increase for other state employees.