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Q: Should we give Maine legislators a pay raise?
Sean Faircloth
We need more plumbers in the legislature—more child care providers and other such small business owners.
There’s nothing wrong with being born to money. (Wish I was!) But my hero Teddy Roosevelt (trust fund baby himself) would say that tradespeople and small business owners (plumbers, child care workers, electricians, barmaids) need proportional representation. Those between ages 30 and 60 in the legislature—who have mortgages to meet and families to feed—are underrepresented. Retired people in the legislature bring excellent experience. Young people bring great energy. But Mainers lose by having fewer legislators “in the middle of life.”
Maine pays legislators $22,000—for a two-year term. Doing the job well is more than full-time work during the six-month session—and there’s a campaign to run during election years to boot. Maine legislators often miss their regular job for half the year—the job that pays the mortgage. (Ask your dental hygienist if she can take six months off.) Many excellent people reject a run for the legislature when they learn it might involve foreclosure.
Contrast this with a state representative in Hawaii. She lives in a smaller state with a smaller population, yet makes about $36,000, pulling down over 40k annually with per diem. If you’re a Hawaiian plumber or a child care worker, it’s possible to give the legislature a go AND make ends meet. Every Maine legislator remembers the first time someone says to them: “You people make $165,000!” But that’s the U.S. Congressional salary—not $22k for TWO years.
Take Delaware—another smaller state with a smaller population. The commute to the capitol is short enough to see your kids after a long day. Salary? $42,000 a year. The session length in Delaware and Hawaii is comparable to Maine’s. More electricians and small business owners can afford to take a shot at representing their neighbors. Some people do this in Maine now; they’re a small percentage compared to Maine’s population as a whole. Legislators in Hawaii and Delaware sacrifice to serve, but working people aren’t outright discouraged from service.
Here’s an idea: Save taxpayers money! That’s right. Pay legislators
the average income of Mainers the preceding year. If the median salary goes up, legislative pay rises. If it goes down, pay declines. Legislators would feel directly those economic ups and downs. That’s about $25,000 to $30,000 these days. How to pay for it? Reduce the size of the House from 151 members to 100. Maine legislators would still represent fewer constituents than the vast majority of legislators nationally. Maine Senate districts are less populous than most House districts elsewhere. We Maine House members could handle the slight increase in constituents. The net savings would mean money returned to taxpayers, while still providing reasonable compensation—encouraging plumbers, child care workers, and electricians to represent working people in the legislature. If you want more people serving in Augusta who know what it’s like to worry about the mortgage,
increase pay moderately while saving taxpayers money. Welcome small business owner legislators! We need you.
Rep. Sean Faircloth is Majority Whip of the Maine House.
Scott K Fish
To answer that question we must understand the legislator’s job qualifications/description for their annual salary/benefits of about $34,000.
Maine government is three equal branches. The legislature makes laws. The governor executes laws. The judiciary makes sure laws fall within Maine’s primary law, the Maine Constitution.
Maine’s legislature is two separate bodies/parts: a House of Representatives (with state representatives) and a Senate (with state senators). Members of both Maine’s Senate and House are called legislators. Legislators should be the people’s eyes and ears in the statehouse, the first line of defense keeping bad ideas from becoming law.
Every 10 years Maine is divided on paper, by population, into 151 roughly equal House districts (HD)/35 Senate districts (SD). I’m in HD 39, made of three towns, and SD 33, made of 17 towns. The Maine Legislature, then, is 151 state representatives (each representing all residents of one House district) and 35 state senators (each representing all residents of one Senate district).
What are a Maine legislator’s job qualifications?
You must be a five-year U.S. citizen, a one-year Maine resident. You can run for the Senate or House only where you’re a legal resident. State representatives must be at least 21 years old, 25 years old for state senators.
Legislators are elected by their district voters to serve one two-year term. Legislators are limited to four consecutive two-year terms. During each term, legislators are in the statehouse the first year’s long session (December to June) and then the second year’s short session (January to April).
During each two-year term the bulk of legislators’ work is making laws and helping constituents work through government red tape. Legislators should be first looking out for the best interests of their constituents, second for the best interests of the state. Each legislator takes an oath of office, swearing to support the U.S. and Maine Constitutions, to “faithfully discharge, to the best of my abilities, the duties incumbent on me as [Maine legislator] according to the constitution and laws of the state.”
How much we pay legislators hinges on the “to the best of my abilities” phrase. “Every [Maine legislator] swore to support our constitution. [T]hey never swore an oath to actually read it,” writes Maine 2nd Congressional District candidate John Frary. Great point.
We should elect legislators the way we elect auto mechanics. We want mechanics with experience, who don’t change car parts at our expense while hoping to stumble upon our problem. We want mechanics and legislators who analyze first, act second.
Instead, most of us don’t know how government works, so we elect legislators who don’t know how government works. The heavy price we pay is a Maine Legislature more like a work-study program than a deliberative body of paid professionals.
Increase legislators’ pay? No. Maine’s few excellent legislators deserve their pay. And the rest? The $34,000 salary/benefits pales against the real price Maine pays for our many unqualified legislators. But, hey! We do the hiring.
Scott K Fish is editor/owner of www.asmainegoes.com.
Sean Faircloth
We need more plumbers in the legislature—more child care providers and other such small business owners.There’s nothing wrong with being born to money. (Wish I was!) But my hero Teddy Roosevelt (trust fund baby himself) would say that tradespeople and small business owners (plumbers, child care workers, electricians, barmaids) need proportional representation. Those between ages 30 and 60 in the legislature—who have mortgages to meet and families to feed—are underrepresented. Retired people in the legislature bring excellent experience. Young people bring great energy. But Mainers lose by having fewer legislators “in the middle of life.”
Maine pays legislators $22,000—for a two-year term. Doing the job well is more than full-time work during the six-month session—and there’s a campaign to run during election years to boot. Maine legislators often miss their regular job for half the year—the job that pays the mortgage. (Ask your dental hygienist if she can take six months off.) Many excellent people reject a run for the legislature when they learn it might involve foreclosure.
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Contrast this with a state representative in Hawaii. She lives in a smaller state with a smaller population, yet makes about $36,000, pulling down over 40k annually with per diem. If you’re a Hawaiian plumber or a child care worker, it’s possible to give the legislature a go AND make ends meet. Every Maine legislator remembers the first time someone says to them: “You people make $165,000!” But that’s the U.S. Congressional salary—not $22k for TWO years.
Take Delaware—another smaller state with a smaller population. The commute to the capitol is short enough to see your kids after a long day. Salary? $42,000 a year. The session length in Delaware and Hawaii is comparable to Maine’s. More electricians and small business owners can afford to take a shot at representing their neighbors. Some people do this in Maine now; they’re a small percentage compared to Maine’s population as a whole. Legislators in Hawaii and Delaware sacrifice to serve, but working people aren’t outright discouraged from service.
Here’s an idea: Save taxpayers money! That’s right. Pay legislators
the average income of Mainers the preceding year. If the median salary goes up, legislative pay rises. If it goes down, pay declines. Legislators would feel directly those economic ups and downs. That’s about $25,000 to $30,000 these days. How to pay for it? Reduce the size of the House from 151 members to 100. Maine legislators would still represent fewer constituents than the vast majority of legislators nationally. Maine Senate districts are less populous than most House districts elsewhere. We Maine House members could handle the slight increase in constituents. The net savings would mean money returned to taxpayers, while still providing reasonable compensation—encouraging plumbers, child care workers, and electricians to represent working people in the legislature. If you want more people serving in Augusta who know what it’s like to worry about the mortgage,
increase pay moderately while saving taxpayers money. Welcome small business owner legislators! We need you.
Rep. Sean Faircloth is Majority Whip of the Maine House.
Scott K Fish
To answer that question we must understand the legislator’s job qualifications/description for their annual salary/benefits of about $34,000. Maine government is three equal branches. The legislature makes laws. The governor executes laws. The judiciary makes sure laws fall within Maine’s primary law, the Maine Constitution.
Maine’s legislature is two separate bodies/parts: a House of Representatives (with state representatives) and a Senate (with state senators). Members of both Maine’s Senate and House are called legislators. Legislators should be the people’s eyes and ears in the statehouse, the first line of defense keeping bad ideas from becoming law.
Every 10 years Maine is divided on paper, by population, into 151 roughly equal House districts (HD)/35 Senate districts (SD). I’m in HD 39, made of three towns, and SD 33, made of 17 towns. The Maine Legislature, then, is 151 state representatives (each representing all residents of one House district) and 35 state senators (each representing all residents of one Senate district).
What are a Maine legislator’s job qualifications?
You must be a five-year U.S. citizen, a one-year Maine resident. You can run for the Senate or House only where you’re a legal resident. State representatives must be at least 21 years old, 25 years old for state senators.
Legislators are elected by their district voters to serve one two-year term. Legislators are limited to four consecutive two-year terms. During each term, legislators are in the statehouse the first year’s long session (December to June) and then the second year’s short session (January to April).
During each two-year term the bulk of legislators’ work is making laws and helping constituents work through government red tape. Legislators should be first looking out for the best interests of their constituents, second for the best interests of the state. Each legislator takes an oath of office, swearing to support the U.S. and Maine Constitutions, to “faithfully discharge, to the best of my abilities, the duties incumbent on me as [Maine legislator] according to the constitution and laws of the state.”
How much we pay legislators hinges on the “to the best of my abilities” phrase. “Every [Maine legislator] swore to support our constitution. [T]hey never swore an oath to actually read it,” writes Maine 2nd Congressional District candidate John Frary. Great point.
We should elect legislators the way we elect auto mechanics. We want mechanics with experience, who don’t change car parts at our expense while hoping to stumble upon our problem. We want mechanics and legislators who analyze first, act second.
Instead, most of us don’t know how government works, so we elect legislators who don’t know how government works. The heavy price we pay is a Maine Legislature more like a work-study program than a deliberative body of paid professionals.
Increase legislators’ pay? No. Maine’s few excellent legislators deserve their pay. And the rest? The $34,000 salary/benefits pales against the real price Maine pays for our many unqualified legislators. But, hey! We do the hiring.
Scott K Fish is editor/owner of www.asmainegoes.com.
