State Government News for February 2003

Staying in Raleigh Less Cuts Legislators' Pay


By Steve Tuttle

Last year’s session of the General Assembly, which convened on May 28, was expected to adjourn on June 30, the last day of the fiscal year when a revised state budget for the current year was supposed to be in place. Instead of lasting 34 calendar days, the session dragged on until Oct. 4 for a total of 130 days and pushed up the cost of the session by at least $1.8 million.

According to figures from the General Assembly’s Legislative Services Office obtained by NCCBI, last year’s session of the General Assembly cost taxpayers a total of about $6.4 million in salary and expenses for the 170 legislators. That’s down from the $8.9 million cost for the 2001 session, which ran a record 317 days in length. Serving in the General Assembly is considered a part-time job.

The legislature’s shorter stay in Raleigh last year reduced each member’s pay considerably from the year before. On average, each legislator earned $37,481 last year compared to about $56,000 in 2001. The reduction in pay is mainly because legislators were paid considerably less in per diem expense money than the year before. Legislators receive $104 per day, seven days a week, in expense money for the entire time the General Assembly is in session.

The highest-paid legislator last year, House Speaker Jim Black, earned about $79,578 compared to $92,542 the year before. That’s mainly because Black claimed $20,488 in per diem money in 2002 compared to $32,968 during the record-setting 2001 session. Black’s per diem in 2002 indicates he worked 67 days when the legislature wasn’t in regular session.

The same decline in income from less per diem money generally was true for all the House and Senate leaders, whose compensation is detailed in the adjacent chart covering both years of the biennium.

If the General Assembly had adjourned as scheduled on June 30, each legislator would have received at least $3,536 in per diem expense money, for a total expense to the state of at least $601,120. Instead, the state paid $2,412,904 in per diem for the entire year, yielding the roughly $1.8 million cost in overtime pay. Staying in Raleigh that additional 96 days fattened each legislator’s paycheck by just under $10,000, although some claimed more and some claimed fewer days.

In fact, a majority of legislators claimed per diem for more than the 130 days that the General Assembly was in session. Among them was Sen. Charles Carter (D-Buncombe), who was injured in a freak accident and missed several weeks of the session. He claimed 174 days of per diem money, worth $18,096.

Each legislator’s income is a factor of at least four components. Each earns a base annual salary of $13,951. Each also receives an office allowance of $559 a month, 12 months a year. Because they aren’t required to turn in receipts, the office allowance is considered income. In addition, legislators receive the $104 per diem money, seven days a week, throughout the time the General Assembly is in session. Finally, all legislators (except those who live in Wake County) are reimbursed for travel expenses for driving back and forth to Raleigh from their homes, at the rate of 29 cents a mile. Finally, the salaries of legislators’ office assistants are paid by the state. Legislators also receive an $1,800 biennial telephone allowance plus free stationery.

Members of the House and Senate leadership team receive higher salaries and office allowances, as shown in the chart. A report on income for all 170 legislators is available at the NCCBI web site, www.nccbi.org.

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