Alabama’s Legislators are THE NATION’S HIGHEST PAID — Bar None

I’ve long known that New Mexico was the ONLY state in the union whose lawmakers did NOT receive any salary, only a very modest per diem payment, and certainly NOTHING LIKE the princely “per diem” sum that Ala-goddamn-bama’s corrupt lawmakers pay themselves from the pockets of the honest, tax paying public.

And if you break down and calculate the entirety of what those f🤬ing bastards pay themselves, you, or ANYONE would find that they are — WITHOUT QUESTION — THE VERY HIGHEST PAID legislators in the nation, who get paid LITERALLY for only THREE DAYS OF WORK PER WEEK (Tu,W,Th — the ONLY days they meet), for a GRAND TOTAL of 30 days per year, more if called into Special Session by the Governor.

The Alabama State Legislature’s website states that “the length of the regular session is limited to 30 meeting days within a period of 105 calendar days. There are usually two meeting or “legislative” days per week, with other days devoted to committee meetings. Special sessions of the Legislature may be called by the Governor, with the Proclamation listing the subjects which the Governor wishes considered. These sessions are limited to 12 legislative days within a 30 calendar day span.”

It’s the VERY best goddamn less-than part-time job in ALL of America — hands down.

Here’s a ROUGH approximation of how MUCH, and the tune to which they pick Alabama taxpayers’ pockets:

They now pay themselves a base salary of $53,956 per year — which they increased by $1,873 on January 1, 2021, and is EXCLUSIVE of Per Diem + Mileage/Travel — which for overnight stays is $85/day, or for 2 or more days with overnight stays is $100/day; while mileage is $0.585/mile. By not meeting 5, or even 6 days/week, they then drive back and forth from their respective residences twice weekly, thereby INCREASING their pay.

In comparison, the Federal Per Diem Standard Rate for Alabama (i.e., Daily Lodging Rate) without specified location is $98/day, with Meals and Incidental Expenses Standard Rate (when that day is neither the first nor last day of travel) is $59/day, while the mileage reimbursement rate for use of a Privately Owned Vehicle (if use of a privately owned automobile is authorized or if no Government-furnished automobile is available) is $0.655/mile.

Divide $53,956 by 30 days per month which equals $1798.53 per day.

Multiply $1798.53 by 5 days per week which equals $8992.66.

Multiply $8992.66 by 4 weeks per month which equals $35,970.64.

Multiply $35,970.64 by 12 months per year which equals $431,647.68 per year.

That figure is 4x MORE than what California pays its legislators!

Again, that is EXCLUSIVE of Per Diem + Mileage + Lodging, etc., which INCREASES what they ROB the People of EVERY GODDAMN YEAR. (For overnight stays it’s $85/day; for 2 or more days with overnight stays is $100/day [effectively being $100/day because the thieving bastards meet 3x/week — Tu,W,Th]; while mileage is $0.585/mile.)

And once again, that is the EQUIVALENT PAY, because by State Constitutional Law they are LIMITED to meeting ONLY 30 days per year in a Regular Session.

Once more,
Alabama’s CORRUPT LAWMAKERS
pick the taxpayers’ pockets
to the equivalent tune of
$431,647.68 per year.

But, to add insult to injury, Alabama’s Personal Income Tax is a REGRESSIVE structured tax, meaning that the wealthy and well-to-do PAY A LOWER RATE than do the poor and impoverished — and Alabama’s Poverty Rate is 16.1% as reported by the United States Census Bureau, the 7th HIGHEST in the nation, with 20.9% of children under age 18 living in poverty in 2020, making not-so-sweet-home-Alabama the 5th HIGHEST nationally, as reported by the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

Further insulting is the fact that the state’s residents have NO ability, and are forbidden to:
1.) Locally self-govern, or;
2.) To self-govern by direct people-led initiative/referendum — thereby requiring/forcing state legislators to micromanage every locality in the state, which effectively robs the people of legislators’ time and effort, diverting it away from guiding and directing the greater ship of state.

BOTH problems, one a subset of the other, are exclusively because of the state’s 1901 Constitution, the 6th it has ever had, and by far the worst of them all, not to mention the lengthiest such governing document in the world, much more so, even, than India’s Constitution.

SEE: https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/2022-legislator-compensation

SEE ALSO: https://ballotpedia.org/Alabama_state_government_salary

SEE ALSO: https://ballotpedia.org/Comparison_of_state_legislative_salaries

SEE ALSO: https://www.wbrc.com/2020/12/03/alabama-lawmakers-pay-increasing/

SEE ALSO: https://www.al.com/news/2018/04/how_much_alabama_legislators_m.html

Only New Mexico’s Lawmakers Don’t Get Paid For Their Time.
That Might Change This Year.
A New Bill Would
Pay New Mexico State Lawmakers For Their Time.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/15/1163680005/new-mexico-lawmakers-salary-dont-get-paid-money-legislation