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We’re working with our public radio partners across the state to cover the Texas Legislature’s special session. And we’re taking questions.
One comes from Tyson, who is wondering about why Texas lawmakers get paid just $600 a month.
He asked, "Why is it legal for state legislators to not get paid a living wage? It seems like built in class discrimination, where you have to be rich to do it."
Some background: Members of the U.S. Congress all have the same base salary, but for state lawmakers, the pay can be wildly different. In Texas, there's a long tradition of the citizen legislature. Basically, lawmaking isn't supposed to be a full-time job.
Judge Katie Kennedy is a Houstonian who serves on the state's Ethics Commission. "The Texas constitution addresses both legislators' salary and per diem payments during a legislative session," she says. "That's Article 3, Section 24 and 24A of the Texas constitution."
So it's legal because it's in the state's constitution. $600 a month may not pay the bills, but in Texas it's not supposed to.
Compare that to California. There the state legislature works full-time, all year, every year and the lawmakers make $104,000 annually. But in New Hampshire, they've been paying their lawmakers just $100 a year since 1889. That's why voters in California may expect more from their legislators than folks do in New Hampshire. In Texas, we're in the middle. What we expect from lawmakers isn't as clear.
As Tyson's question points out, not everyone can afford to be a Texas lawmaker. Houston Democrat Senfronia Thompson was a public school teacher before she was elected to the Texas House. But she had some help. "I was married," she says. "I had a husband."
Thompson says yes, more people would run for office in Texas if they had the money, but don't expect changes anytime soon. "The support is not there, because the majority of the people that I work with, they don't need a salary increase," she says.
When the legislature is in session, lawmakers also get a per diem of $190 a day to pay for their expenses, like if they need to rent an apartment while they're in Austin. Sarah Davis is a Republican representing Houston's District 134 in the House. She says the per diem is important, but she would eliminate the salary.
"If I were designing the system, I probably wouldn't even give the legislators $7,200 a year," she says. "Because I really believe that it is about community service."
Davis says being a lawmaker should be a sacrifice, and if people were paid higher salaries, they might be there for the wrong reasons. Still, she admits it's expensive. "We say we're a part-time legislature, but I literally have to take six months out of my job to go to Austin," she says.
Some representatives point out Texas is better off having perspectives from all sort of professionals on the floor. Leticia Van de Putte represented part of San Antonio for almost 25 years, first in the House, then in the Senate. She says, take for instance Senator Donna Campbell. "She'll work a 24-hour shift and come off and come to the Capitol, change out of her scrubs, and put on high heels and a dress and go to the Senate floor," says Van de Putte.
Van de Putte says it's not easy making $600 a month, so some reps can't put their primary jobs on hold. When Van de Putte first ran for office, she was a pharmacist with her own business and six kids under the age of 10. "Our family calculated that every time we had a legislative session, it would cost our family around $50,000 or more because I wasn't working," she says.
Even when they're not in session, lawmakers are expected to juggle committee hearings, interim reports, constituent services, plus a constant parade of parades.
So this is where we get back to our question-asker, Tyson. Katie Kennedy, who serves on the Ethics Commission, says state lawmakers can't change how much they make. That request would have to come from a member of the public.
"Well, they would have to come to the Texas Ethics Commission, which they're welcome to do," she says. "We have open meetings. They can ask to speak at our meetings and put that idea forward."
From there, the commission could make a recommendation. And then, it would go to the voters. The next meeting of the Ethics Commission is in September.