Las Vegas Sun

May 21, 2013

Currently: 69° | Complete forecast | Log in

Nevada Legislature 2013:

Where do Nevada’s legislators rank nationally in salary? The answer may surprise you

Image

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

The Assembly meets in a floor session Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 during the 2013 legislative session in Carson City.

By (contact) Anjeanette Damon

CARSON CITY — 

Sun coverage

Sen. Tick Segerblom wants to professionalize Nevada’s Legislature.

Since its inception as a state, Nevada has had a citizen Legislature, where members meet every other year and hold down so-called day jobs when not in Carson City writing laws.

But under a measure introduced by Segerblom, the Legislature would begin meeting annually and would collect a monthly salary for their full term.

Right now, Nevada’s lawmakers rank in the bottom five in terms of salaries, at $8,777. (The figures do not include the often substantial per diem that lawmakers in Nevada and elsewhere collect.)

If Segerblom’s measure passes — it would have to be approved by voters after passing the Legislature twice — lawmakers would begin collecting $24,000 a year. At that level, the state's legislators would be squarely in the middle of the pack.

For a little bit of context, here’s a look at states that pay the top annual salaries and the lowest, as well as how often they meet.

    • FILE -- In this Jan. 23, 2013 file photo, Gov. Jerry Brown gives his State of the State address before a joint session of the Legislature at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. State Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis and Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, have proposed indentical bills that would require all legislation to be in print and online 72 hours before it can come to a vote. Both bills would be constitutional amendments and would have to be approved by the voters.

      Rich Pedroncelli / AP

      Top five: California

      $95,921, nine-month session

    • Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives meet to work on the state budget, Friday, June 29, 2012 in Harrisburg, Pa.

      Bradley C Bower / AP

      Top five: Pennsylvania

      $82,026, meets throughout the year

    • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, gives a tour of the Hall of New York to members of the legislature and media on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Paintings in the hallway depict scenes from around New York. Cuomo delivers his third State of the State address this afternoon.

      Mike Groll / AP

      Top five: New York

      $79,500, meets throughout the year

    • Members of the Michigan House are sworn in by Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Justice Robert Young, back right, in Lansing, Mich., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Twenty-eight new lawmakers are joining the GOP-controlled Michigan Legislature on the first day of the next two-year session. The new House members were sworn in shortly after noon Wednesday along with those re-elected to the 110-member chamber.

      Carlos Osorio / AP

      Top five: Michigan

      $71,685, meets throughout the year

    • Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, left, holds up an oversized gavel given to him by Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Cicero, during swearing-in ceremonies on Senate floor at the Illinois State Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in Springfield Ill.

      Seth Perlman / AP

      Top five: Illinois

      $67,836, meets throughout the year

    • FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2012 photo, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez addresses a joint session of the House and Senate at the start of the legislative session in Santa Fe, N.M., Martinez is feuding with the Democratic-controlled Legislature over how New Mexico should spend money on capital projects. The Republican governor contends that lawmakers have doled out too much money on local "pork" projects and she's threatening to veto some of them to drive home her point of view.

      Susan Montoya Bryan / AP

      Bottom five: New Mexico

      No salary, one-month session

    • New Hampshire House committee members listen to testimony during a public hearing on a bill that would reverse a policy that allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves by requiring that people must retreat if they can do so safely, at the Statehouse Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013 in Concord, N.H.

      Jim Cole / AP

      Bottom five: New Hampshire

      $100, six-month session

    • Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley delivers his State-of-the-State address to a combined session of the Alabama Legislature in the historic House chamber of the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013.

      Dave Martin / AP

      Bottom five: Alabama

      $1,050, 15-week session

    • The assembly stands in recess on the first day of the 2013 legislative session Monday, Feb. 4, 2013 in Carson City.

      Sam Morris

      Bottom five: Nevada

      $8,777, 120-day session every other year

    • This Friday, Feb. 15, 2013 photo shows representatives on the floor of the Utah House of Representatives at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City. Men vastly outnumber women in Utah's House and Senate. Half of the state is female, but fewer than one in five legislators are women. Nationally, the Utah legislature ranks behind all but four states for its percentage of women. Now, lawmakers and others are working to change that by recruiting female candidates.

      Rick Bowmer / AP

      Bottom five: Utah

      $5,265, 45-day session

    Discussion: 2 comments so far…

    Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

    Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

    1. By Retired_Army (Donald Pettyjohn)
      Feb. 27, 2013
      11:32 a.m.
      Flag

      So he wants them to meet yearly and get paid more. Can we all say "NO WAY".

    2. By lvfacts101 (Jerry Fink)
      Feb. 28, 2013
      5:39 a.m.
      Flag

      What a joke. The Carson City Clowns do enough damage meeting only once every 2 years. Let's keep it that way.

    Post a comment

    Commenting requires registration.

    Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

    If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

    Most Popular