ARIZONA, USA — The above video aired on a previous broadcast.
How are lawmakers paid? It depends on where you live.
Some states pay their lawmakers an annual salary, others are paid daily, weekly or monthly, and some aren't paid a salary at all.
Most states pay a salary and give their lawmakers extra money each day to cover expenses in session, according to National Conference of State Legislatures data. New Hampshire's salary is $100 a year — the same as it was in 1889 — while New Mexico pays lawmakers no salary. Instead, lawmakers are paid $202 to cover expenses in session.
In Arizona, lawmakers are paid $24,000 annually and may have a per diem which can vary. The annual average salary in 2023 in Arizona was $58,620, according to a Forbes article published in February 2024.
Kansas is set to nearly double state legislators’ pay at the start of next year. That will make their compensation better than it is for their counterparts in a majority of states. The increase is nearly $28,000 a year for rank-and-file legislators. That boosts their total compensation to nearly $58,000 from $30,000. That's an increase of 93%.
Alaska lawmakers’ salaries rose by 67% last month at the start of their annual session, from $50,400 to $84,000, also because legislators let a proposal from a pay commission stand. New Jersey legislators will see their pay increase in 2026, also by 67%, from $49,000 to $82,000. New York lawmakers received a 29% raise at the start of 2023, making their pay the highest in the nation at $142,000 a year.
Curious how much lawmakers are paid in other states? Here are a few salaries:
- Iowa: $25,000 with an additional allowance of $3,600 and a per diem which varies by area
- District of Columbia: $161,233.19 annual salary, the highest paid annual salary for lawmakers in the country
- Utah: $293.55 daily salary for the 45-day session paid in a lump sum
- Vermont: $843 weekly salary for 18 weeks
- Alaska: $84,000 annual salary and $307 per diem for all lawmakers except those from Juneau
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