Measure to boost legislators’ salaries likely dead for session

Some major pieces of legislation — including an overhaul of Georgia’s citizen’s arrest statute — survived big tests on Crossover Day.

But other measures fell short on that day, when a bill typically needs to clear at least one chamber to have a chance at winning final approval this year at the General Assembly.

It’s really more a guideline than a hard rule: The end of Crossover Day marks the beginning of Frankenbill season, when pieces of legislation are often reanimated by sewing them onto thriving measures.

One of the biggest measures that failed to make the Crossover Day leap — and one of the most likely to remain buried for the session — was a Senate bill seeking significant salary bumps for lawmakers and numerous state officials. The raises proposed in Senate Bill 252 came out of a 2017 compensation study that said lawmakers were underpaid.

The average legislator would see a salary increase of more than 72%, from $17,342 to $29,908, starting in 2023. Legislative leaders also would be in line for big raises. The House speaker’s salary would go from $99,000 to $135,000; the lieutenant governor, who serves as Senate president, would see a jump from $92,000 to $135,000.

Raises of about 40% were proposed for most other statewide elected officials. Gov. Brian Kemp, however, would have to be satisfied with the boost to $175,000 that the General Assembly granted the state’s top officer in 2019.

House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, was among the supporters, making a case that higher pay could diversify the membership.

“I don’t know of anyone who wants a legislative chamber to be made up exclusively of people that are independently wealthy or they’re retired,” Ralston said.

Others, however, said it seemed like too much money for a part-time job.

“We do essential work, I believe, in this building,” said Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming. “But we are part-time legislators. I don’t believe any of us, no matter how hard we work at this job, wake up and go to work Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, 12 months of the year to do this job.”

State lawmakers have often cited the salary as a reason for quitting. Many find the pay is much more lucrative lobbying their former colleagues.

But those lawmakers also know that voting to increase their pay is a good way to lose their jobs, which is why their salaries have not seen a significant jump in decades. The Senate voted down the measure 33-20.

After the Senate bill crashed and burned, a House bill seeking the same pay bumps died without getting a vote.