Louisiana Legislators Vote To Give Themselves A 238% Pay Raise

What's the last raise you got at your job? If you're an employee, you may have seen a 2% or 3% "cost of living" increase at some point. But if you've got a "cost of living" raise over the last 2-3 years that was under 15%, you actually took a pay-cut based on the cost of goods.

But have you ever had a raise of more than 10% without changing jobs? Do you know anyone who gets a 15% raise without taking on new responsibilities? That never happens. Well, ok, we can't say never, but the odds are if you're getting a raise that big for doing the same job, you're either the person giving the raises, or are related to them.

Which brings us to the Louisiana Legislature.

This week, the Louisiana House Governmental Affairs Committee approved a bill that is aimed at raising the annual salary for state lawmakers 238%. Why? Well, some say it's because we're "losing good lawmakers" over pay. Seriously...

Gretna Representative Joe Marino says many legislators are leaving because the time commitment does not match the pay. Here's the quote he gave Louisiana Radio Networks:

“So we have this attrition rate that’s going on and nobody is leaving the Legislature for a lower paying job than this” 

Is that really what leading Louisiana is about? How much you're getting paid? Beyond that, do they really want us to believe the only way lawmakers are making money is off their state salary? That's laughable.

On top of that, these are lawmakers who have consistently argued against raising the minimum wage in the state. The state is still fighting over raising minimum wage for state workers to $10 an hour. That's just STATE WORKERS, that's not the public.

According to the Economic Policy Institute:

"After the longest period in history without an increase, the federal minimum wage today is worth 27% less than 13 years ago—and 40% less than in 1968"

While we're talking about lawmakers giving themselves a 238% pay raise, without taking on additional responsibilities at their job, lets talk about the real minimum wage. Looking at the dates the Economic Policy Institute had, starting in 1968, we can see where the overall minimum wage should be today.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) looked back to 1968 as well, and figured out what the minimum wage would be if it kept up with productivity. That number, mathematically and scientifically, lands at $21.50 an hour.

Louisiana's current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. That's almost $15 an hour SHORT of where it should be, according to business experts. 10 years ago, there was a fight to get the minimum wage to $15 an hour, which is where it mathematically would have been then. But since that didn't happen, now the rate has risen even harder. So now the math isn't saying the wage should move TO $15 an hour, it should move a FULL $15 an hour up.

But would probably sound completely ridiculous to the same people who are voting for their own 238% pay raise right now in Baton Rouge.