How Much Do Louisiana Senators Make Right Now?
It looks like the proposed pay increase for Louisiana State lawmakers is dead for this legislative session. Members of the House Appropriations Committee voted 16-5 to kill Greta Representative Joe Marino's bill to raise legislative pay from $16,800 to about $39,000, which is 75% of the median household income in Louisiana.
The vote in the money committee was 16-5. Bossier Rep Raymond Crews sits on that committee and he voted no to the pay plan. One of the big criticisms has been the decision not to include teacher pay raises in the budget. The House has ok'd a budget that pays down the retirement debt which will send the savings on to the local school boards to use for pay increases. But the Senate is expected to put teacher pay raises back in the budget. There's a lot of concern about that because it will be a recurring expense using one time revenue.
If this pay increase for lawmakers was approved, it would not go into effect until after the first of the year when the new legislature is sworn in.
KEEL News requested documents from the Senate to find out how much Louisiana Senators made during all of 2022. And as you can see, almost all of the senators make well over $40,000. We do acknowledge that much of that money comes from the mileage and per diem the lawmakers received.
Louisiana Senate Salaries