Legislative raises get final approval

• By SARAH CHACKO AND MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 17, 2008 - Page: 1A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A measure that would more than double Louisiana lawmakers’ annual pay beginning next month won final legislative approval Monday.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said again Monday that he will do nothing to stop it.

Senate Bill 672 got the exact 20 votes needed for final legislative passage in the Senate. Eighteen senators voted against it.

Upon passage, SB672 sponsor state Sen. Ann Duplessis let out a victorious “Yes!”

Duplessis, D-New Orleans, later said she believes the public criticism of the bill was misguided by radio commentators. The public does not fully understand the amount of work done by legislators, she said.

As it goes to the governor, SB672 would increase lawmakers’ $16,800 annual salary to $37,500. Top legislative leaders would get more money.

The per diem and a yearly $6,000 unvouchered expense allowance considered income by the federal Internal Revenue Service would stay the same for now. The per diem, however, is tied to a federal reimbursement rate that has been increasing fairly steadily to $143 today.

The amended bill would also allow for future salary adjustments without legislators having to vote on it again. The pay would increase with the Consumer Price Index. The original measure tied salary increases to those made for members of the U.S. Congress.

Earlier, the Senate had approved a more expansive pay raise plan that garnered the same number of votes.

“Many people support families on $37,500 but at the end of the day, I don’t think it’s an appropriate amount,” Duplessis said.

Jindal, who has 20 days to sign or veto the bill before it automatically becomes law, said in a prepared statement that he opposes the measure but will keep his pledge to let legislators decide.

“I’m very sorry to see the Legislature do this. More than doubling legislative pay is not reasonable, and the public has been very clear on that,” Jindal said in a statement issued by his press office.

Jindal’s press secretary Melissa Sellers said Jindal would not be available for interview on the subject Monday.