Raise senators' pay

A proposed constitutional amendment that would boost state lawmakers' salaries by more than 83 percent, to $22,000, received first-round approval Thursday.

But before you shout "Baloney!" or some less polite response, listen to a few other points.

Voters won't have a chance to vote on the raise until 2010, and it won't go into effect until 2011, until after all of the current state senators are out of office, or at least have had to face the voters for the single second term they are allowed under the constitution.

That's a long time since last year, when a proposed constitutional amendment to boost pay to $22,000, and tie raises each year to a price index, was turned down by voters.

It's also ample time for supporters of the pay raise to make their case before the voters.

Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff said he wasn't supporting the raise for himself, rather to encourage more other people to run for the Legislature in the future.

"We're missing the young people because they cannot afford to be here. We're missing different cultures because they cannot afford to be here," he added.

That's true, but we're also narrowing the potential field of Legislators to three types of candidates, lawmakers who are independently wealthy, legislators willing to live as hermits, and lawmakers who will be beholden to moneyed interests.

No, $22,000 is not enough to cure all of those problems.

But it's a move in the right direction.