The Commission was established by Senate Joint Resolution No. 158 enacted by the 1981 Session of the Virginia General Assembly. The Commission has thoroughly studied the compensation provided to members of the Virginia General Assembly as well as the compensation of legislators in other states. The Commission also examined the costs associated with serving in the General Assembly.

The General Assembly has changed greatly over the past few decades and especially since the adoption of the 1971 Constitution of Virginia, however, the General Assembly continues to be composed of citizens serving as part-time legislators. The Commission believes that today's legislator spends an increasing amount of time dealing in legislative affairs. However, the Commission believes that Virginia General Assembly should continue its tradition of being a part-time citizen legislature. The Commission's basic purpose was to examine the annual salary and expense reimbursements provided to Virginia's legislators to ensure that they remain current and appropriate and roughly in line with those provided by other states. With this basic philosophy in mind the Commission makes the following recommendations.

The Commission recommends that the present $8,000 annual salary be increased to $11,000 effective January, 1984. This salary adjustment is based on the fact that legislators have been impacted by inflation just like all citizens of the Commonwealth. The Commission notes that the last salary increase Virginia legislators received was less than half of the rate of inflation during that time period. As a result, the salary of Virginia legislators has fallen to 29th among all the 50 states and 9th among the 15 states in the Southern region. Moreover, Virginia legislators received far less than their counterparts in many Southern states. This was of particular significance to the Commission since these states have legislatures with similar duties and philosophies.

The recommended salary adjustment would basically cover the rate of inflation since the previous increase, and still leaves Virginia comparable to other neighboring states and behind the Southern states of Maryland, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Florida. The increase would become effective for the 1984 General Assembly since the Constitution of Virginia provides that a General Assembly can only change salaries for a future General Assembly. The 1984 effective date would also continue the long tradition of adjusting salaries for both houses at the same time.

The Commission also recommends adjustments in expense allowances. At the present time, Virginia legislators receive $50 per day (unvouchered) during the Session for meal and lodging expenses. The Commission has found that given today's prices it is costing some members money out of their pocket to stay in Richmond during the Session. The Commission firmly believes that legislators should be provided sufficient funds for expenses. The Commission notes that four Southern states provide more funds for living expenses than does Virginia.

The Commission studied various expense reimbursement options, however, the present system of unvouchered expenses is favored by most legislators since they do not need to bother keeping detailed receipts for hotels, meals and other expenses. In addition, the present $50 provision represents the maximum amount the Internal Revenue Service will allow for unvouchered expenses. If additional unvouchered funds were provided, the member would either have to claim the additional amount as income or, if more than $50 was spent, keep detailed itemized records to prevent the additional amount from being counted as income.

Based on these factors, the Commission recommends that the present $50 per day for meal and lodging expenses be paid on an unvouchered basis for those members who either may spend less than $50 or who choose not to keep expense records and provide up to $75 per day, on a vouchered basis, for those who spend more than $50 and who wish to itemize those expenses.

Also, during the Session each legislator is allowed one round trip home each week at 20 cents per mile reimbursement which is the same reimbursement provided to state employees when they use their personal vehicle for official state business. The Commission has found Virginia's mileage reimbursement allowance in line with what other states provide state legislators. The Commission believes the mileage reimbursement appropriate and recommends no change at the present time.

The Commission also examined the funds provided Virginia legislators outside the Session.

Currently, members receive $200 per month outside the Session for office expenses and supplies on an unvouchered basis. The Commismon wishes to note that this amount has been unchanged since 1976 and ranks far below allowances provided legislators in other Southern states. The Commission recommends this allowance be increased by 25% to $250 per month and recommends further that this allowance be paid every month. The Commission notes that these funds are used not only to pay for office expenses and supplies but also to pay for personnel costs associated with constituent work.

Another area of expenses examined by the Commission is the allowance provided to members who attend legislative committee meetings outside of the Session. Members receive $50 per day for attending a meeting plus expenses, if any, and mileage. This amount has been unchanged since 1974. The Commission recommends the $50 per day be increased to $125 per day. The Commission notes that attending a meeting in many cases requires a member who lives further away from Richmond to lose two days from their regular jobs. The Commission also notes that this is considerably less than the per day compensation paid during the Session based on an $8,000 annual salary. The Commission believes the recommendation would make the compensation for attending a meeting more appropriate as well as adjusting it for inflation.

Finally, the Commission examined the amount a legislator can spend for a secretary and/or an aide. The Commission believes this a budgetary matter and thus, leaves it to the wisdom of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees.

In summary, the Commission believes that it is important that the compensation of General Assembly members be reviewed on a regular basis and adjustments be made to reflect cost increases. Due to the size of Virginia's budget and the services it provides the citizens of Virginia, the demands and workloads placed on our legislators have increased dramatically in recent years. Their compensation should reflect these changes as well as the burden of inflation which affects us all. The adjustments the Commission recommends attempt to balance the need to pay higher amounts to legislators to offset higher costs but not pay so much as to encourage legislators to become full time. The Commission urges the General Assembly to adopt its recommendations effective July 1, 1982 with the salary changes becoming effective January, 1984.

The Commission wishes to note that Delegate Bagley and Senator Willey made clear at the outset that their role would be to assist in the administrative workings of the Commission and to respond to questions about the General Assembly and its workload. They abstained from voting and expressing opinions on the compensation questions.