Pay - the legislature's hot potato.

• Author: Donlin, Johanna

It's hard to raise your own salary. That's why some state legislatures use compensation commissions to help set legislative pay.

Legislators' pay is one of those hot button issues. All you have to do is mention it, and lines are drawn and letters from angry constituents flood the state capitol. What can legislatures do to depoliticize the issue?

Twenty-three states use compensation commissions. Some are responsible solely for legislative salaries while others also evaluate pay for state employees and judicial appointees. Regardless of the commissions' duties, they are created with basically the same purpose: Take a sensitive political issue and provide some "independent and objective recommendations," says Chet Nelson of the North Dakota Legislative Council. "Legislators recognize the difficulty of voting on their own pay."

Commissions vary from state to state, but they follow certain patterns. The governor and legislative leaders appoint members from a broad cross-section of society. Appointees usually cannot be public employees or officials. Lawyers, bankers, educators, accountants and former legislators from a variety of professions all become part of the mix.

Once appointed, the commission examines data on comparative salaries, conducts hearings to get citizen comment and then makes recommendations. Some commissions are purely advisory - the legislature can ignore any recommendations. Other states give the commission more power - recommendations become law unless the legislature rejects them. In Washington, the commission has complete control over legislators' salaries. It decides what increases are necessary, and the Legislature cannot overrule its decision.

GATHERING INFORMATION

Compensation commissions evaluate similar information across the states. Kentucky's Legislative Compensation Commission is fairly typical. When it met in 1995, the commission first reviewed statutory, constitutional and Legislative Research Commission policy provisions relating to legislative compensation, salaries and expense schedules. The commission also looked at Kentucky's history of legislative compensation together with the survey of legislators' compensation and benefits done by NCSL. The commission's discussions compared many factors including: professional vs. citizen legislatures; length of regular and special sessions; state comparisons of legislative salaries, expenses and retirement; and a comparison between Kentucky magistrate salaries and...