Amendment gives Nevada lawmakers 15 percent base pay raise

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada lawmakers would get a 15 percent boost in their pay, to $9,000, under a bill amended and approved Wednesday on an 8-5 Assembly Ways and Means Committee vote.

The amendment to AB464, proposed by Assemblyman Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, adds $1,200 to the $7,800 in base pay lawmakers now get, and removes the bill's original provision to establish a commission to determine lawmakers' pay.

The state's 63 legislators now get the $7,800 at the rate of $130 a day for the first 60 days of a session. They also get $85 a day for expenses for the entire 120-day session, plus other allowances.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said the increase doesn't begin to compensate lawmakers for the work they do or the sacrifices they make, but said it's a positive step forward.

"I still think that (the voters) would support paying us for the days that we work," Giunchigliani said.

Assemblyman Josh Griffin, R-Henderson, voted against the amendment, saying that because lawmakers must decide between significant tax increases or major budget cuts the timing is wrong for legislative pay raises.

The bill's original language, creating a commission to determine lawmakers' pay, received criticism during earlier hearings because it would charge a non-elected body to decide how to spend state money.

Lawmakers, however, regularly spoke up throughout the session about their pay. Freshman Assemblyman Bob McCleary, D-Las Vegas, said previously he's questioning his decision to run for the Legislature because it's left him "at the verge of economic ruin."

McCleary said he left an $85,000-a-year job and gave up health insurance benefits -- only to have his 4-year-old son get sick after he moved to Carson City. Assemblyman Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, a family practitioner, provided free medical care.

Besides AB464 in the Assembly, the Senate is considering SJR11, a proposed constitutional amendment that would ask voters to let lawmakers be paid for every day of service in regular or special sessions, and to get "reasonable allowances" for postage, stationery and other expenses.

The Senate measure, proposed Monday, is being reviewed by the Senate Finance Committee.