Lawmaker proposes legislative pay hike

BATON ROUGE – Lawmakers would see their salaries nearly quadruple under a pre-filed bill that would implement across-the board increases.

HB149, authored by State Rep. Joseph Marino (Ind.), would set a new base salary of $60,000 for members of the House and Senate. That compares with the current salary of $16,800 a year.

The actual amount lawmakers take home is generally more than double the actual current salary and includes per diem compensation (paid for each day of legislative work, in addition to their salary). Most lawmakers make more than $40,000 per year in total for their work as part-time legislators.

HB149, filed on Monday, would also hike the annual salary for the president of the Senate and speaker of the House from $32,000 to $114,000, and increase pay for the president pro tempore of the Senate and the speaker pro tempore of the House from $24,500 to $87,400.

Increases would take effect in January 2024.