While UW professors’ salaries lag at the bottom of their peer group, it’s at least a little bit comforting to know that the state legislators aren’t underpaying professors while overpaying themselves. They’re at the bottom of their peer group (full time legislators) too.
Not surprisingly, full-time lawmakers in nine states earn the most. The highest paid are in California, where the session runs all year and legislators earn $110,880 annually. The lowest salary in that group is in Wisconsin, where elected representatives earn $45,569 a year. The median income for the nine full-time legislatures is $57,619.
5 responses so far ↓
Erik Paulson // June 8, 2008 at 9:36 pm |
Don’t forget their per diem, which I think is something like $88 whenever they’re in Madison on state business, plus mileage. That added up to about $20K per legislator a few years back
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=267426
Jon // June 9, 2008 at 9:37 am |
might it be worth pointing out the possible standard of living differences between the various states? I dont have anything to back this up with FS, but could this fact be and equalizer?
Fearless Sifting // June 9, 2008 at 11:09 am |
I’m sure there are a number of things like those you guys just pointed out. I just stumbled across this and thought it was kind of ironic that our state legislators were also paid at the bottom of their peer group.
Pop Density // June 9, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
Look at the population density of these states. It will explain a lot about the price comparisions. A Wisconsin representative district is some like 54,000 people whereas CA is x4 that. The real question should be, “why are wisconsin legislators full-time?”
-Formor Legislative intern
furthermore... // June 9, 2008 at 2:48 pm |
Many legislators have jobs on the side, which is particularly nice during the most recent session… I feel like we were in session for 20 days the entire year. Guys like Pocan and others proift very nicely from their side business… whether a law firm or printing press, none of these representatives are in poverty.