Legislator pay inches up.

• Position: Salary increases for lawmakers

Legislatures in 21 states say they'll look at salary increases for lawmakers this session, according to NCSL's 1999 compensation and benefits survey.

Legislators in 18 states started out the session with pay raises when they returned to the capitol for the 1999 sessions. In some states, it was the first raise in over 10 years. Colorado's pay raise from $17,500 to $30,000 was the first since 1985, and Arizona voters approved a jump in pay from $15,000 to $24,000, the first increase since 1981.

Per diem rates also fluctuated around the country in 1998. Eighteen states now tie their session rates to the federal per diem rates set by the General Services Administration. Nine states tie their interim per diem rates to the federal rates. Eight states do not pay per diem. New Mexico, the only state that does not pay an annual salary, pays a $124 per diem to members.

Compensation commissions continue to be a popular method for evaluating and setting legislators' salaries. Twenty states now use this method. The most recent states to adopt the plan by law were New Jersey (March 1999) and Maine (1998). The Virginia Joint Rules Committee appointed a one-time compensation commission that made recommendations this session, but does not plan to meet again.

Colorado's commission is dormant. Legislators debate any pay raise on the floor without a commission's recommendation. And although Kentucky and Massachusetts still have commissions in their statutes, the groups have not met in several years.

Massachusetts took a different tactic. Voters passed a 1998 constitutional amendment that gives lawmakers an automatic increase every two years that is equal to the increase in the median household income. This takes effect in 2001.

Generally, legislators cannot raise their own pay. State constitutions usually allow pay raises to take effect only after the next...