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Pondering the Pay Raise Posted by Danny, on March 23rd, 2007, at 9:31 amA commenter here raises a point… If Alabama’s Governor is being paid 60.7% more now than in 1990, does a 62% raise for legislators in that time span (since 1991) feel so unmerited, relatively speaking? After all, 40% of the Alabama governors in that span became convicted lawbreakers. Related Articles: 14 comments to Pondering the Pay Raise |
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Well, let’s see. The Governor’s job is full time. The legislature is part-time. The Governor doesn’t raise his own pay. The legislature does.
Our current Governor cut his own pay when proration was threatened and state employees were losing jobs. How many legislators can say the same thing?
The Governor’s salary is $112,894 per year for his full time job – compared to $49,000 for a part time legislative position. The Governor also has a hefty expense account, which is separate and apart from any salary income. I think someone also pointed out on an earlier thread that, since the Governor does indeed sign legislation, he retains the ability to veto his own pay raise.
Good idea, Danny. I’m all for prosecuting legislators ;-)
$112,894 is not a lot of money for what is essentially a CEO position. The presidents of Auburn and Alabama each receive far more as well as housing and other expense perks. Governor is also not a 9-5 job so it involves a great deal more than 40 hours per week.
I’m curious though–are the Governor’s raises in separate legislation or are they combined with other items in a bill (e.g. would a governor vetoing his own raise veto it for others as well?).
Well, we never said that we agreed with the Governor’s pay raise, either. And two wrongs do not make a right.
Apples and oranges. In addition to the aforementioned fact that the governor’s job is full time, he didn’t ask for it all in one fail swoop at the beginning of the quadrennial. Even the most biased observer has to admit that the legislature only did this because they think the voters will forget in 2010. They didn’t campaign on it and they sure as hell wouldn’t do it in an election year.
I confess that I don’t follow Susan and Brian’s point that the governor’s job is full time so for that reason it should have greater percentage increases in salary.
If someone makes $50,000 full-time, and someone else makes $10,000 part-time at the same company that decides to give a 10% cost-of-living increase, then the first one will make $55,000 and the second one will make $11,000. (One is still five times the other.) Except Brian and Susan believe that the full-time job should get a larger percentage increase simply because it’s full-time? Since we are talking about percentage increases, I don’t follow that reasoning.
As for doing it in one fell swoop, yes… would have been less dramatic if it had been increased to this level a bit at a time over the years (like the governor’s salary was). FWIW, this way cost the state less over the years because the state didn’t pay for legislative raises in the intervening years.
I’m not intending to defend the legislators’ raise or attack the governor’s raises here; I’m simply pointing out a striking similarity that makes the legislators’ raise less objectionable to me, relatively speaking. You of course may love them both, hate them both, or love one and hate the other, as you see fit.
I made the point myself that the 62% raise equals about 3% per year (compounded) since 1991. That is very reasonable. It isn’t about the money. It is about the arrogance of them doing it the way they did it when they did it.
Brian, serious question here. Could the Legislature have done anything differently that wouldn’t have angered people? Yes, it looks bad, and it may very well be bad, but it may have been the only way to get a raise passed.
Why don’t the people who run this site come out and admit they’re being paid by the Alabama Democratic Party? All they do is put on the internet the talking points of Joe Turnham and Zac what’s-his-name and Lowell and Ken Guin.
Anon, are you refering to Zac McCrary (sp?), former blogger?
Kathy – First off, sorry for the late reply; I was quite busy this weekend. Not to reveal too much to any prospective politicians who might be reading this, but here is my rough “pain level” for a raise given the whole no raise since 1991 circumstance:
50% – I’m royally pissed. I vow not to forget and I actually expend time and money both trying to prevent the raise and (if unsuccessful) keeping the memory of the raise in front of the voters.
LOL, regarding comment #10,
1) I am sorry to say that no one is being paid one dime by anybody to run this site.
2) The Governor’s salary has risen by about the same percentage as the legislator’s pay raise (in roughly the same time span). If you believe that is a Democratic talking point, well, that probably says as much about you as anything else. :)
3) If you think all this site does is echo the talking points of the men you named, then you have not been reading very long. For that matter, Lowell Barron would say you haven’t been reading since Thursday. Heck, Joe Reed would say you haven’t even been reading this weekend.
But glad to have you reading now!
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Brian, regarding your comment #8, I think we are mostly in agreement. While there may be much objectionable about the legislators’ pay raise, the amount may not be the most objectionable consideration.
Kathy, I just realized that my comment #12 was mysteriously abbreviated. I had a bunch of greater than signs in the post and I bet they were treated as html tags and “hid” a chunk of my comment. I don’t have the energy to replicate it now, but it laid out my reactions (or lack thereof) based on the size of theoretical pay raises.