Editorial: A reasonable salary

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.

Measures are making their way through the Nevada Legislature that would increase the pay and travel reimbursements for assemblymen and senators. The most significant of these measures is a constitutional amendment that would require legislators to be paid for each day of work. The Constitution currently has an archaic provision that limits pay to just 60 days. Legislators now make $130 a day, a rate set in 1985. So, instead of making $7,800 during a legislative session, they would make $15,600 if this proposal is passed by the Legislature and receives final approval by the voters in 2006.

Many members of the Legislature must give up their full-time jobs -- including their salaries and health insurance benefits -- during the 120-day legislative session. Paying lawmakers for just 60 days -- when they're serving twice that period -- is flat-out wrong. If we genuinely want a citizens' legislature -- one that isn't limited to the wealthy and includes those with modest means -- then we need to provide a wage that is reasonable. We shouldn't make public service such a financial hardship that only those who are well off or retired can afford to do so. We all lose something when a cross-section of our elected leaders doesn't reflect the very people they are supposed to represent.