JUNEAU (AP) — The Alaska Legislature last Thursday rejected a proposal that called for higher annual salaries for lawmakers but an even larger reduction and restrictions on the daily allowance they could receive for living expenses during sessions in Juneau.
The net would have been a significant reduction in pay.
Action came quickly: The bill to reject the salary commission’s recommendations was introduced in the Senate on Jan. 25, passed unanimously by that chamber on Jan. 26, and passed 37-0 in the House on Jan. 27. The bill next goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Under state law, the salary and expense recommendations would be adopted unless a bill rejecting them is enacted. The governor can sign the rejection bill into law or veto it, though the House and Senate votes last week provide ample margin to override any veto.
The recommendations were made by the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission, which is tasked with reviewing salaries, allowances and benefits for lawmakers, the governor, lieutenant governor and department heads. The commission recommended raising the annual base salary for legislators from $50,400 to $64,000, plus capping at $100 a day the allowance they can receive during regular sessions and requiring receipts for any reimbursement of living expenses.
Some legislators said the proposal seemed punitive, or that keeping and tallying receipts would be burdensome. Some said it would limit who could afford to serve in the Legislature.
In addition to their annual salary of $50,400, legislators, on average, received about $35,000 for living expenses each year, 2015-2021, according to Anchorage Daily News calculations. The current per diem rate is $307, and lawmakers are not required to submit receipts.
The compensation commission, in a compromise, boosted the salary by $10,000 a year but cut the expense reimbursement by two-thirds.
In a 121-day legislative session, a legislator’s overall gross income for the job would fall from $85,853 to $76,100, assuming expense payments are collected every day. Salaries are taxable and expense payments are not, so their take-home pay would drop even more if the commission’s recommendations were adopted.
In speeches before the vote and interviews afterward, senators said the pay plan was unrealistic and failed to account for the cost of maintaining a household in Juneau and one in a legislator’s home district.
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