PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island state lawmakers are some of the worst-paid legislators in the country, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
The conservative-leaning think tank said Thursday that just seven states pay lower salaries than Rhode Island, including three states where lawmakers do not draw paychecks.
A rank-and-file Ocean State lawmaker makes $14,019 annually. The General Assembly typically meets three times a week for six months a year. Most lawmakers hold down other jobs outside of the Statehouse.
The report did not factor in benefits provided to state lawmakers. Rhode Island’s part-time lawmakers are eligible to receive free health, dental and vision insurance, although some voluntarily contribute a portion of the premium. The report also excluded from its rankings states that pay lawmakers based on the number of days in session.
The policy institute found that – based solely on salaries – lawmakers in California make the most, drawing an annual pay of $95,291. California legislators are considered “full time” and typically work a session lasting between eight and nine months.
At the bottom of the list were New Mexico, Texas and Utah, all of which do not pay. Mississippi lawmakers collected the smallest salary, $10,000.
The institute also reported little correlation between the financial health of a state’s budget and the amount it pays its lawmakers. For example, California – with its best-paid lawmakers – had a budget deficit for fiscal year 2010 amounting to 64.5 percent of its overall budget. Michigan, where lawmakers are the second-best paid in the country, had a deficit amounting to just 12.4 percent of its budget. Utah, where lawmakers are not paid, had a deficit of 9.8 percent of its budget.
Lawmakers in the top 10 states with the best compensation faced shortfalls, on average, amounting to 30.4 percent of their budgets. In the bottom 10 states, lawmakers had budgets with deficits of an average of 18.7 percent of the overall budget.
More information is available at http://www.illinoispolicy.org.
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So I guess you could say we get what we pay for! And, by the way, a study that doesn’t factor in the perks is pretty much irrelevant.
Considering the fiscal and bureaucratic mess they’ve created, RI pols are overpaid. And when you factor in what they get under the table, they’re doing just fine.