As session drags on, time to look at options
Published July 21, 2015
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, July 21, 2015.
The General Assembly began this year's session in January. The fiscal year ended on June 30. We're three weeks into July and still without a budget. And there's none in sight.
We don't know when lawmakers will adjourn this year, but a miniature Christmas tree appeared on the Senate dais last month. Maybe it wasn't a joke.
According to The Associated Press, the average two-year session in recent years has lasted 317 days. With their $13,951 base salary and assuming eight-hour days, that puts lawmakers at about $11 an hour before you even consider the time they spend on the job in their districts. They may be working for less than minimum wage, all told - which could give critics the opening to say we're getting our money's worth.
There are two ways to solve this. One is a firm limit on the number of days in session, like most states do. Or switch to a full-time legislature, which is what most of our fellow top-10-population states do.
We see problems and benefits in both approaches, but wouldn't rule out either. It's time, we think, for a blue-ribbon commission to look at the best way to get state legislative business done, and then to follow the commission's advice. What we have now isn't working all that well.
July 21, 2015 at 6:51 pm
Jason Thomas says:
Figure in their tax free per diem and its another story
