Dec. 8 – Pay for state lawmakers in Connecticut will increase 4.5% in each year of the two-year term beginning Jan. 8, under a provision of the pay increase law passed by the General Assembly two years ago was adopted.
The passage of the bill by the House and Senate on the same day in May 2022 increased the salaries of legislators and constitutional officials statewide for the first time in more than two decades. It also created a mechanism for future wage increases.
In the case of lawmakers, the bill increased the annual base salary for lawmakers from $28,000 to $40,000, effective Jan. 4, 2023. That was the first day of the two-year term for lawmakers elected in 2022.
The bill also directed the executive director of the Office of Legislative Management, in consultation with the state labor commissioner, to adjust legislator salaries before the start of each term, based on a federal measure of wage growth, the Employment Cost Index.
The first calculation under the indexation provision will increase the statutory base salary from $40,000 to $43,600. The reward for the top two leaders, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Speaker of the Senate, will increase from $52,000 to $56,680
No lawmaker gets just the base salary. An additional $4,500 for non-vouchered expenses is paid to members of the House of Representatives, and $5,550 to senators. Additionally, many lawmakers hold leadership titles that carry additional pay.
For example, annual compensation for committee co-chairs and assistant leaders is $50,685.
The Employment Cost Index is the same measure used to calculate annual increases in Connecticut’s minimum wage.
The pay for statewide constitutional officers is tied to the salaries of the judiciary.
The governor’s salary of $150,000 went up to $226,711 in the term beginning in January 2023, the same as that of the chief justice of the Supreme Court. Pay for the other officers went from $110,000 to $189,483, the same as that of a Superior Court judge.
Gov. Ned Lamont, who is independently wealthy, receives no salary.
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