It's Time to Compensate Legislators

When our reps earn Oregonians’ average, we can truly be the People’s House

In its 2022 session, the Oregon legislature had a chance to invest in our democracy. SB 1566 would have established pay for members of the Legislative Assembly equal to the annual average wage as published by the Oregon Employment Department. But the bill died in committee.

Legislators make $32,839 a year. Leaders from Medford to Eugene to Portland see the problem: We lose good legislators who have to choose between supporting their families and serving their constituents. The people lose potential legislators who never run for office, offering their perspectives and ideas, because they cannot afford to.

This is a nonpartisan issue, which is why groups across the political spectrum, from business alliances to communities of color, support a legislature that reflects the people of Oregon. Private-sector employers understand that adequate compensation is essential to attract the best employees. So do our legislature’s employers: Oregonians want as their representatives not just those wealthy or flexible enough to serve. 

I ran for office because I believe our democracy is stronger when our government reflects the diversity of the people it serves: renters, fixed-income homeowners, small-business owners, working single parents. Oregonians deserve legislators who understand their priorities because they live them and will work for policies that improve their lives. But low pay shuts out many from service. 

Our state is strengthened when our legislators embody the full spectrum of Oregonians, from rural small farmers worried about their crops, to parents whose child is struggling at school, to caretakers navigating the healthcare system for their elderly immigrant parents. 

We need to modernize. Our legislators should be focused on policymaking, not juggling part-time jobs on top of their public duties. Any legislator, past and present, knows our work extends beyond the “part-time” sessions to constituent meetings every day of the week, every month of the year. Given the urgent issues (and five special sessions in the past two years), we need a full-time focus that goes beyond the designated months in Salem. The Senate bill would have enabled legislators to spend more time working with constituents, collaborating with stakeholders and developing fully vetted policies. 

Livable wages would reduce potential conflicts of interest that emerge when legislators have other employment. No one wants legislators to regulate or write policies affecting the industries that might or do employ them. We need to know they are working solely for the people’s interests, accountable to their constituents and the people of Oregon, no one else. 

When legislators earn a wage equal to that of average workers, our legislature can truly be the People’s House, developing policies that help all our communities thrive. 

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Khanh Pham is serving in her first term as Representative for House District 46, which covers southeast Portland and parts of east and northeast Portland. She can be reached at rep.khanhpham@oregonlegislature.gov.