South Carolina lawmakers consider a nearly $18,000 pay raise

COLUMBIA S C AP The South Carolina Senate has voted what is effectively an -a-year pay raise into the state s spending plan for the next budget year Republican Sen Shane Martin introduced the plan Wednesday which would increase what is called in-district compensation money set aside for legislative duties but have inadequate limits on how it can be spent from a month to a month for all senators and House members Martin explained the plan for about seconds before it was approved - It is part of the overall billion budget plan the Senate approved later Wednesday The monthly stipend for lawmakers has not been increased in about years If it makes it through the rest of the budget process lawmakers would go from a year to a year for those expenses In all the proposal would cost million a year In his brief explanation on the Senate floor Martin disclosed the increase was needed to adjust for inflation and keep up with a world where there are more expenses Lawmakers also get a salary of a year that has not changed since In addition they get money for meals milage to drive to Columbia and hotel rooms while in session Legislators are considered part time because South Carolina s General Assembly meets three days a week from January to May Republican House leadership announced they were not aware of the Senate plan and needed to discuss it with their colleagues before speaking publicly A small conference committee of senators and House members will have to agree in about a month to keep it in the spending plan Lawmakers passed a -a-month increase in the budget in but Republican Gov Nikki Haley vetoed it and senators did not have the votes to override her decision Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey voted against the proposal Wednesday He revealed lawmakers should have been more transparent You ought to let it go through the subcommittee process let people come in and fuss at you let it go through all the committee work let it come on the floor and have a debate declared Massey one of Republicans to vote against it Massey reported he understands the argument that low compensation tends to limit who can serve to people who run their own businesses are independently wealthy or retired And he commented a month doesn t go as far as it used to You can use that just in gas Massey commented My district is five counties Democratic Rep John King has been pushing for a few kind of additional compensation for lawmakers for years Representatives like him don t have an office in their home county He had to set one up himself with a computer furniture and all the other supplies He pays someone to handle constituent issues while he is legislating which also eats into his compensation King who is a funeral director for his family s funeral home can afford to be a lawmaker because there are people to help with the family business when he is away But he knows there are a lot of people in his district who could not choose to run because of a money crunch Let s find a fair way where any citizen in the state of South Carolina who chooses to run for office can run King declared Source