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McCook Gazette

Christensen: Pay increase would bring diversity to Nebraska Legislature

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Bruce Baker

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Sen. Mark Christensen expects a bill that intends to allow for a third term for senators and another that seeks to raise their pay to be the most debated of this legislation session. He told members of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce that a pay increase would make running for office a more realistic option for members of the middle class, during his weekly legislative conference call at the Keystone Business Center Thursday morning.

"I think a lot of people confuse our $12,000 annual pay with the $170,000 of the House," Christensen said. He explained that he believed an annual pay of $30,000 to $50,000 could get more middle class people to run for the Legislature. "We have a lot of rich and retired and those that think it should be a real sacrifice to serve."

Christensen said that two similar bills had been brought since he had been in office and he voted in support of both of them.

They attempted to raise Nebraska senators' pay less than the amount that LR 373 CA is targeting and both failed.

Christensen said he had always planned on introducing legislation during his last term so that it was not construed as just an attempt to increase his own pay.

Christensen said he was not sure where the consensus of people were on LR 358 CA, the amendment that sought to increase election terms to allow for a third term, but he expected it to be hotly debated as well.

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  • 30to50 grand to work less than 90 days a year???

    This guy is blowing smoke and he knows it. The Legislature wasn't ment to be a full time job.

    Mr Christensen, if you don't like the pay or the people you work with now then please get out now.This has come up in the past and got voted down and it will happen again. I'm sure that there are better things that you and the rest of the Legislature should be doing for the STATE other than giving yourself a raise.

    -- Posted by Wildhorse on Thu, Jan 12, 2012, at 4:07 PM

  • A "60 day session" will take them from the beginning of January to halfway through April or into May. A "90 day session" will take them from the beginning of January into the summer plus they can be called into a special session at any time. That's why the average person can't serve in the Legislature.

    Most people don't have a job that allows them to just leave for several months at a time and keep being paid for it so they have to quit or maybe work out a deal with their employer where they can return but won't be paid while serving in the Legislature. On top of that, they have to pay their regular mortgage payments back home plus rent and utilities in Lincoln for the several months they are serving in the Legislature (except for Senators who already live in or close to Lincoln). They lose their regular income to serve the people of Nebraska and compound their bills with living in Lincoln for several months and it's no wonder why you have so many of the wealthy and retired serving people. Never mind the sacrifice of being away from their family for that amount of time.

    $12,000 for 4-6+ months of service is not sustainable for a normal person trying to pay a mortgage AND rent at the same time. Nobody's going to get rich off $32,000. They might come out a little bit ahead but not much when you figure in the living expenses they have to pay on two different homes just to serve and retain their family home.

    I know it's not popular but it is necessary if you want to give the average person a fighting chance. If you want to keep getting what you've always got from the same type of people that have always had the financial stability to serve, then I'm sure no raise makes plenty of sense.

    -- Posted by McCook1 on Thu, Jan 12, 2012, at 6:00 PM

  • "You get what you pay for!" This statement is almost always true. Quality, dedication, experience, and loyalty come from fair and honorable compensation. Nebraska has lacked that for decades and yet sometimes we wonder "why" more people don't serve publicly in Nebraska.

    Our pay for our Senators at the Unicameral is a perfect example. When a Senator that is financially sound enough to work for $12,000 [plus some expenses] makes decisions do you really think its best for the majority of Nebraskan's that could NEVER afford to be in our Unicameral? I think they see things through different colored glasses.

    No one likes to pony up more money, but its long overdue in the Unicameral. Maybe if compensation was better "term limits" would take care of themselves, because there might be more competition during elections.

    By the way it is a FULL TIME job.... try to turn people off when they want to "talk" to you if you are an elected official.... guess what you can't!!

    -- Posted by myopinion1 on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 9:51 AM

  • Where do we find out what the average State Senator is paid in per-diems throughout the year? I'd like this in print before we even talk about a raise.

    Wouldn't state employees like a raise of 3-5%...sure but 167% WOW!!

    -- Posted by Pierre on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 12:10 PM

  • Go to the Legislature website,the last session was less than 90 days,this one is 83,if it wasn't for that pipeline deal there wouldn't have been a special session.They get mileage and other benefits not to mention immunity from arrest and tickets while in session.Nobody twisted their arms to run and Mr Christensen knew the pay when he ran.If he didn't like it he shouldn't have ran for the position.This is NOT a full time job no matter how it's trying to be framed.

    -- Posted by Wildhorse on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 3:24 PM

  • What is the pay for state senators in our adjoining states?

    -- Posted by dennis on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 4:32 PM
    Response by Bruce Crosby:
    http://www.empirecenter.org/html/legislative_salaries.cfm

  • Doesn't sound like Christensen is complaining about it for himself if you read the article. It's for the people who don't have the resources that he does. If he didn't like the pay, he could have ran, got elected and tried to change it like he is now so not running would have made the least amount of sense for him.

    I won't claim to tell them this is or isn't a full time job because I've never served in the Legislature. I do know they are away from their homes for a lot longer than 60-90 days at a time though. For example, this session started January 4th and will not end until April 12th so they will be gone just over 4 months in a "60 day session".

    Here's a month by month breakdown of the number of days they were working last year. Keep in mind that they allegedly only worked 90 days.

    January-18 days

    February- 18 days

    March- 20 days

    April- 15 days

    May- 17 days

    June- 1 day

    July- 0 days

    August- 3 days

    September-6 days

    October- 6 days

    November- 17 days

    December- 1 day

    There's more to it than most people realize. Especially when you figure that the days they have to be in for hearings, outside of an official "legislative day", can be spread across the month meaning more time a normal person would have to take off work.

    -- Posted by McCook1 on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 5:46 PM

  • Let us not forget that it is usually people with "money" that are the only one's that can afford to run for the office in the first place. The average joe usually can not afford to run.

    -- Posted by goarmy67 on Fri, Jan 13, 2012, at 11:59 PM

  • I can't tell you the pay for surrounding states, but this open line forum is a terrific place to pose the question.

    -- Posted by hulapopper on Sat, Jan 14, 2012, at 6:18 AM

  • Bruce, thanks for the information. It would seem that if Nebraska would increase the pay to the $23,000 range then we would be around the average of the states in our area. It would be nice to see how our county commissioners and city council compares with counties and cities our same size. Thanks again for the info.

    -- Posted by dennis on Sat, Jan 14, 2012, at 8:49 AM
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