The Akron Legal News

Lawmaker comes up with 'AWFUL' plan for legislator pay adjustments

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: June 22, 2018

A Cincinnati Republican last week proposed a method to adjust legislators' pay that would alleviate the need for lawmakers themselves to do the math.

The Average Wage Fully Uniform Law, or the purposely humorous acronym AWFUL, would set baseline compensation for General Assembly members equal to the state's median household income, a measure long overdue, according to its sponsor Rep. John Becker.

"For those of us who committed to a platform of less government and lower spending, House Bill 649 kicks off that process by starting with our own salaries," the lawmaker told members of the State and Local Government Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives. "Others will think that it is truly awful, but under HB 649, Ohio will remain in the upper tier of legislative compensation."

The bill would remove the political considerations of legislators' salaries and replaces them with economic considerations, he continued.

"As Ohioans' median household income rises, so shall legislative salaries," Becker said. "This bill provides us with a personal financial incentive to promote statewide economic growth.

"Our salaries will rise or fall with our constituents."

A citizens group - Ethics First - is credited for coming up with the idea. The organization undertook a petition campaign about two years ago to put similar legislation on the ballot.

"I thought it was a good idea," the lawmaker said.

According to the bill, leadership positions would continue to get the same percentage increase in pay that they currently receive.

Another selling point of the bill is that no legislator will have to tackle the issue of raising legislators' pay again.

Rather, "HB 649 provides legislators a robust incentive to create business-friendly policies that keep jobs and create new ones, thereby strengthening Ohio's economy into one in which families and businesses keep more of their hard-earned money," Becker said.

Testimony provided that it's been 10 years since lawmakers last adjusted the salaries of their successors.

Article 2 of the Ohio Constitution prohibits legislators who are currently in office to give themselves pay raises.

Any change in pay would not take effect until a member begins a new term, analysis by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission found.

"This means the changes will take effect for House members and about half of the Senate members when the 133rd General Assembly begins and for the remaining Senate members when the 134th General Assembly begins," Alyssa Bethel wrote for the commission.

Six fellow House members have signed on as cosponsors of the measure, which had not been scheduled a second hearing at time of publication.

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