http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/06/01/pay-hike-for-arizona-lawmakers-likely-going-to-ballot-but-history-unfriendly/ Your Inside Track to Arizona Politics Wed, 22 May 2013 18:23:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2012/06/01/pay-hike-for-arizona-lawmakers-likely-going-to-ballot-but-history-unfriendly/comment-page-1/#comment-72852 Jon Altmann Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:12:59 +0000 http://azcapitoltimes.com/?p=46544#comment-72852 You get what you pay for sometimes. Arizona Legislators are underpaid. It is hard to attract good people to the position unless they are retired or independently wealthy. The middle income folks who really represent a large number of the masses can't afford to be at the Legislature because of the time it consumes versus the pay. If we bring up the pay, I think we see more and better candidates enter the field. Back when the pay was closer to the economic levels, we had a lot of great business people and community involved folks who could get off work (without pay) and be part of the public policy process and still keep their other day job. If this were truly a "part-time" legislature, maybe the lower pay we have now works, but given the number of special sessions and that so many of our Legislators come from outside the Valley, more pay is fair. Good government doesn't need to cost a lot. Another thing we can do to curtail the cost is make participation in the elected officials retirement optional so members don't have to participate - and to lower the benefits of that program for the ones that stay in. You get what you pay for sometimes. Arizona Legislators are underpaid. It is hard to attract good people to the position unless they are retired or independently wealthy. The middle income folks who really represent a large number of the masses can’t afford to be at the Legislature because of the time it consumes versus the pay. If we bring up the pay, I think we see more and better candidates enter the field.
Back when the pay was closer to the economic levels, we had a lot of great business people and community involved folks who could get off work (without pay) and be part of the public policy process and still keep their other day job.
If this were truly a “part-time” legislature, maybe the lower pay we have now works, but given the number of special sessions and that so many of our Legislators come from outside the Valley, more pay is fair. Good government doesn’t need to cost a lot. Another thing we can do to curtail the cost is make participation in the elected officials retirement optional so members don’t have to participate – and to lower the benefits of that program for the ones that stay in.

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