The Legislature Thinks it Needs a Pay Raise

If a guy or gal won’t sacrifice a few bucks to serve his or her fellow citizens in elected office, they’re probably not worthy of serving.

That observation is pretty idealistic to be sure, but is there anything really wrong with that?

That thought is relevant in light of plans moving along to grant the 120 members of the state Legislature a whopping annual pay increase – from $49,000 to $82,000.

The raise would not take effect until 2026 and other offices – including the governor – would also benefit.

But let’s stick with the Legislature and the reason presented by Sen. Richard Codey why a raise is needed.

Codey, who is leaving office when his current term officially ends at noon on Tuesday, says pay must go up to attract and retain talented people.

In response, consider the lead sentence of this article.

Furthermore, as critics of the proposed pay increase pointed out on Monday, there never seems to be a shortage of individuals wanting to serve in the state Assembly and Senate.

“We don’t need this (pay raise) to attract talent,” said Assemblyman Jay Webber, a Republican from Morris Plains.

That’s not a bad point. How many of the state’s 40 legislative districts are unfilled because nobody wants to run?

It is true, of course, that lawmakers need to get paid. And on all levels of government, it’s tough – politically that is – for elected officials to up their own pay.

At the same time, there seems to be a right way to do this and a poor way to do it.

What is happening in Trenton seems to be the poor way.

Like many bills of this type, the pay raise initiative is being done in the “lame duck” session, meaning that some of those voting for it are leaving office. In fairness, that means they won’t be around to benefit.

But what seems more galling to critics than the timing is the magnitude of the raise. Going from $49,000 to $82,000 is quite a jump. Why not go up to $55,000 or $60,000?

Nor should it be forgotten that this is technically a part-time job. It is understood that many conscientious legislators devote many hours a week to the job, but make no mistake, a lot of what politicians do falls into the category of fun. The reference is to the many cocktail parties and other social events that are a big part of the political circuit. (I know, I go to a lot of them).

In unsuccessfully arguing against the pay raise, Republicans said state residents already are dealing with inflation and living in a high-cost state.

Assemblyman Brian Bergen, another Morris County Republican, said lawmakers simply do not deserve a raise. He said they do not normally work as hard as most of the mayors in the state, many of whom get a stipend, if that.

Webber said voting in a pay increase will increase public cynicism about state government.

Two somewhat contradictory points need to be made.

One is that public cynicism about state government is quite high already.

The other point is that it doesn’t matter. People may be cynical and dismissive about the goings-on in Trenton, but that doesn’t mean they will run to the ballot box to make a statement.

Those who don’t see that should look at the just-concluded legislative election. Only 27 percent of registered voters bothered. Ugh.

The pay raise in the Assembly was approved in a 46-26 vote.

The Senate spent an inordinate amount of time paying tribute to departing Senators.  This is all part of the game, one supposes.

It finally got around to approving the pay raise bill just after 6 p.m by a vote of 26 to 7.

As noted, the pay increase, assuming it gets signed by the governor, will take effect in 2026.

Webber, for his part, said he will donate the extra money to a worthy cause.

How many of the other “no” votes will do that?

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