PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - The South Dakota House has passed a bill that would give legislators a significant pay raise and tie their salaries to the state’s median household income.
House members voted 50-16 Wednesday to send the bill to the Senate.
House Democratic leader Spencer Hawley, a supporter, says officials need to expand the base of people who can come out to the Legislature.
It would set legislators’ salaries at one-fifth of South Dakota’s median household income. U.S. Census numbers for 2015 show that would mean a raise of 70 percent for the state’s 105 lawmakers to nearly $10,200.
State lawmakers are currently paid $6,000 per session plus a per diem allowance.
House legislators have also advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to approve similar provisions.
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