Even after a recent raise, Oregon legislators are currently slated to make only $31,200 yearly, plus $149 a day when the Legislature is in session, and this worries Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick.
Burdick, a Portland Democrat, has introduced SB 959. The bill would raise legislator pay by 63 percent, to over $50,000. Burdick argues many city and state employees make far more than this. Burdick also argues the increase would allow a wider diversity of Oregonians to consider running for office.
For comparison, the median household income in Oregon for 2017 was $56,113 according to US Census data. Also, legislators in Washington make $48,731 and an extra $120 per diem.
Burdick recently told OPB the current pay structure leaves out “a whole category of people: Young working people in the first parts of their career or in the middle of their career where people try to boost their earnings … you rule those people out, and that’s not healthy.”
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