Jindal vetoes legislative pay raise

Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday morning vetoed a bill that doubled the base pay for state legislators. Jindal made the announcement at a news conference in the State Capitol. "I have opposed this pay raise at every turn and from the very beginning.

A doubling of legislative pay is clearly excessive and it takes effect prior to the next election, which I believe is bad policy," Jindal said. "This bill would also have set up a system to give legislators automatic pay raises in the future without additional legislative votes--which is a lack of accountability that we cannot accept."

Jindal had previously said he would not veto the pay raise to allow the legislature to conduct its own internal affairs. "I clearly made a mistake by telling the legislature that I would allow them to handle their own affairs," Jindal said. "As with all mistakes, you can either correct them or compound them. I am choosing to correct my mistake now." Lawmakers voted to raise their annual base pay from $16,800 to $37,500; the raise was to go into effect Tuesday

Jindal won't veto legislative pay raise

Gov. Bobby Jindal says he will not block a legislative pay raise approved Monday from becoming law.

With a 20-18 vote, senators agreed with a House-passed amendment that reduced Senate Bill 672 from a $50,700 base salary to $37,500 - up from the current 16,800 base. On top of that, lawmakers receive an automatic $6,000 for expenses and $500 a month for office expenses if they provide receipts.

"I will keep my pledge to let them govern themselves and make their own decisions as a separate branch of government," he said. "I will not let anything, even this clearly excessive pay raise, stop us from moving Louisiana forward with a clear plan for reform."

Prior to the 20-18 vote, Republican state Sens. Gerald Long of Nachitoches and Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge urged senators to reject the proposal.

"People feel that they have not been heard," Cassidy said. "We have done a lot of good things" but people will only remember the pay raise.

2008 Legislative Update

Senate Votes to Double Lawmakers Pay

SB 672 sponsored by Sen. Ann Duplessis, which would increase the pay for state legislators was approved 20-18 today by the State Senate. The pay hike would go into effect July 1. Rank-and-file lawmakers would go to $37,500 a year, in line with the main 2003 recommendations of a special compensation study panel named by the Legislature.

Starting July 1, 2009 and every year after that, the pay would go up based on the Consumer Price Index, roughly 2 to 3 percent a year. The measure now goes to Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Pay raise would boost some legislators' retirement benefits

Seventeen Louisiana lawmakers would receive a double boost if a proposed legislative pay raise is approved by the Senate.

They are members of the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System, and the benefit of a higher salary is clear, said Maris LeBlanc, deputy director of the system. Besides getting a bigger monthly paycheck, their retirement benefits would be calculated on the new rate of at least $43,500 a year instead of the current minimum $22,800 ($16,800 base, plus $6,000 expense allotment).

"If a member receives a higher salary during the last 36 months of their service, the retirement benefit is increased," LeBlanc said. "The total amount of increase will depend on the date of retirement."

"A constitutional amendment adopted in 1996 precludes new legislators from joining LASERS unless they are eligible for membership due to some prior service," LeBlanc said.

The increased pay for lawmakers in LASERS would mean an increase in the unfunded accrued liability of the retirement system, something the Legislature tries to pay down on each time surplus revenue are available.

2008 Legislative Update

House votes to double legislators’ pay

SB 672 sponsored by Sen. Ann Duplessis, which would increase the pay for state legislators was approved today by the House of Representatives. Prior to the final vote, the House approved changes to the plan that included a provision to more than double lawmaker pay instead of tripling it.

They also removed language that would increase their wages without a legislative vote. The pay raise proposal now goes back to the Senate, which will consider the bill next week. The Senate cannot amend the bill at this stage. It must either accept or reject the House changes. If the Senate accepts, the bill will go to the desk of Gov. Bobby Jindal.