By MARY SELL, Alabama Daily News
Alabama’s lawmakers will earn $43 less 2023 because the median household income in the state fell slightly in 2021.
They’ll earn $53,913, .08% less than this year, according to a memo from the State Personnel Department.
Since 2015, legislators’ pay has been tied to the median household income in the state. This is the second small decrease the elected leaders have seen. A 2012 voter-approved amendment that was initially a pay cut for many lawmakers put their salaries at $42,849 in 2015.
The household earning figure comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The most recent data published in September is based on 2021 incomes.
Republicans who pushed the constitutional amendment said it would save the state money and take politics out of their pay. If the state prospers, they get paid more; if it doesn’t, they don’t.
Lawmakers don’t earn more during regular or special sessions, but they are compensated for travel costs.
According to Census data, median household incomes in the 16-state southern region, in which it includes Washington D.C. and Delaware, were down 1.5% to $63,368 in 2021. And nationwide, median household incomes dipped about $400 to $70,784.