Full Source: National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL),
http://www.ncsl.org; Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2003. Census Bureau.
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical-abstract-03.html.
Full Footnotes:
1. Most current data available on permanent state legislative staff is from 2003. See
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/about/staffcount2003.htm.
2. Texas legislators also receive a per diem of $128/day while the legislature is in session, an additional $17,920 during a regular 140 day session. Most states provide some type of per diem payment to cover living expenses while in session, though amounts and procedures vary widely. See NCSL data at:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/about/staffcount2003.htm.
3. The median is the middle value. For fifty states, an even number, the middle value is the average of the two middle values. Twenty-four states have great values and twenty-four have smaller values. Median number of legislators, both chambers (except Nebraska which has a unicameral legislature). Range: 49 (Nebraska) to 424 (New Hampshire). Texas ranks 11th. Data from the NCSL last accessed at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/about/numoflegis.htm, 24 June 2008.
Median annualized salary, all 50 state legislatures, not including per
diem compensation. Range: $0 (New Mexico) to $113,098 (California). Texas
ranks 41st. Data found in Council of State Governments, The Book of the States 2007 (CSG: Lexington, KY);
Nine states pay legislators a daily or monthly rate while the legislature is in session rather than an annual salary. To facilitate comparison, legislative pay from these states was annualized using the length of the 2007session and dividing by two for states with
biennial sessions: Alabama, $10/day for 92 days (Mar. 6-June 7); Kansas $84.80/day for 137 days (Jan. 8-May 22); Kentucky, $180.54/day for 85 days (Jan. 2-March 27,
& July 5-July 30 special session); Montana, $82.67/(legislative day) for 90
legislative days, see
http://leg.mt.gov/content/sessions/60th/2007_session_calendar.pdf)
(2007-biennial); Nevada, $137.90/day for first 60 days of session (biennial);
North Dakota, $125/day for 109 days (2007 biennial: Jan. 9-Apr. 25); Utah, $130/day for 45 days, Jan 15-Feb. 28); Vermont, $600.78/week for 19 weeks (Jan. 3-May 12, estimated); One especially complicated state is Wyoming -- legislature alternates between
regular sessions in odd-numbered years and budget sessions in even-numbered years.
Regular sessions are considerably longer than budget sessions. Thus, to calculate
annual salary of Wyoming legislators, the annual salary for the 2007 regular
session ($150/(legislative day for 46 days est., Jan 9-Mar. 14) was added with the annual salary for the 2008 budget session ($150/(legislative day for 20 days, Feb. 11-Mar. 7), and the sum was divided by 2.
Regular session dates from the NCSL for 2007 at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/about/sess2007.htm and for 2008 at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legman/about/sess2008.htm.
Median number of permanent staff members, all 50 state legislatures in
2003. Range: 29 (Wyoming) to 3077 (New York). Texas ranks 4th. Data
from the NCSL accessed at
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/about/staffcount2003.htm, last accessed 24 June 2008
4. Congressional salaries from From Ida A. Brudnick. 2008. "Salaries of Members of Congress: A List of Payable Rates and Effective Dates, 1789-2008." Congressional Research Service.
http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/97-1011.pdf. Accessed 24 June 2008.
Total Congressional civilian workforce, September 2007 (latest data available), from U.S. Office of Personnel Management,
http://www.opm.gov/feddata, accessed 24 June 2008.