Utah needs to overhaul method of paying legislators

This summer and fall the Legislative Compensation Commission will meet to again recommend how much and in what manner Utah's 104 part-time legislators should be paid.

As lawmakers take on tax reform this year, it's time to look at legislative reform as well. And pay is a big part of that.

I know it may not be popular, or even politically correct, to advocate a pay raise for politicians — especially politicians that some people love to criticize, like the Legislature. But the fact is, Utah legislators needs some help.

They need help in personal staff and constituent services. They need help in dealing with conflict of interest and ethics. And they need help in diversifying their ranks and in their pay.

What do we want in our part-time legislators? We want smart, motivated people who bring a wealth of ideas and skills to the 75-member House and 29-member Senate. We want to broadly represent the makeup of our state, not only in political preferences, but in gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, income and life experiences.

If we find that, through the system we've set up, those serving in our Legislature are warped out of those broad categories, shouldn't we consider changing the system? (Hey, I'm not saying that legislators themselves are warped — I know some of you love that picture — but that the system is somehow warped that brings us the people we have.)

One small example: At a recent Tax Reform Task Force subcommittee, a legislator not on the committee was talking about various income tax proposals before the group. And he noted that it was no wonder that the subcommittee wasn't looking favorably on a tax plan that would cut taxes on lower-income people while raising the state income taxes on those who made more than $75,000 a year.

"Everyone up there makes more than $75,000 a year," he said with some disgust, nodding at the panel.

And you know what, he's probably right.

One reason for that is because regular working stiffs can't afford to serve in the Legislature. Many of the current lawmakers are well-to-do, retired, don't have paying jobs or have jobs where their bosses keep them on the payroll during the 45-day general sessions because the bosses want an employee in the Legislature for whatever reasons.

If you have to take vacation time or unpaid leave to serve in the Legislature, it's tough on you financially.

I recall that in the mid-1980s, one state senator told me that she knew the financial status of most of her colleagues, and there were 12 millionaires among the then-29 senators.

"How does that reflect our citizens?" she said sarcastically.