Politicians receive pay raises this year  

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

In 2023, legislators voted to increase pay for state constitutional officers and for members of the WV Senate and WV House of Delegates beginning in 2025. 

Base legislator pay increased by 15% from $20,000 a year for senators and delegates to $23,000 per year. 

The governor’s salary increased by 27% from $150,000 annually to $190,424. 

The secretary of state, attorney general, secretary of agriculture, state auditor, and state treasurer all jumped from a salary of $95,000 annually to $161,128, an increase of 70%. 

Some public employees such as police and teachers did receive smaller pay raises for last year as voted upon by the legislature. State troopers received a $2,900 increase while teachers received a $2,600 increase. 

In the most recent legislative session, proposals to raise the pay of public employees, judicial officers, and teachers in certain geographic areas for the coming year were denied by the legislative and executive branches, despite workers seeing double-digit increases to the cost of their Public Employee Insurance Agency (PEIA) health care. 

Who decides if legislators get a raise? 

The state constitution lays out a two-step process related to lawmaker pay. First, the Citizen’s Legislative Compensation Committee (which is a body appointed by the governor) recommends any changes. Second, the legislature must then vote upon such changes. 

In 2023, the Citizen’s Legislative Compensation Committee suggested upping legislator pay from $20,000 per year to $30,000 per year, an increase of 50%. Committee Chairman Mike Hall said at the time a pay raise was overdue for legislators and would bring the state in greater alignment with surrounding states. He also said the committee supported tying legislator pay to median income in the state, so that it increased or decreased based on a formula relative to how well other state workers were doing economically. 

While many of the terms for those committee members expired in 2024 and early 2025, according to Drew Galang with Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office they all remain on the committee as they have yet to be replaced. So the membership includes: Jeff Campbell, Larry Mathis, TJ Meadows, Linda Fluharty, Wally Thornhill, Mike Hall, John Karras, & Dave Sypolt. 

Hall and Sypolt are former senators. Campbell was appointed to the commission as a citizen and served when the pay raise recommendation was made, but was later appointed to the House for a second time by Gov. Jim Justice. He continues to serve as a legislator following reelection in 2024. 

Meadows is currently a co-host of Talkline on WV Metronews. He indicated his term expired earlier this year, but Galang said he has yet to be replaced and is therefore still a member of the committee. 

Karras is still serving after his term expired in 2003 after first being appointed in 1997. 

“The next required meeting should be 2027. However, the administration is actively reviewing various boards and commission membership at this time,” said Galang via email. 

Who decides if state constitutional officers get a raise? 

State code gives legislators the power to set the salaries of constitutional officers. HB3135 accomplished that task in 2023 as introduced by Del. Steve Westfall and Del. Clay Riley.

It passed the House by a vote of 73-22. Here’s the vote: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/2023/RS/votes/house/00379.pdf

It passed the Senate by a vote of 25-7. Here’s the vote: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/2023/RS/votes/senate/03-10-0526.pdf

At least six senators asked for a ruling from the chair as to whether they should be excused from voting on the pay raise if they are running for a higher office? Blair ordered them to vote, ruling that they were part of a “class” of citizens, meaning any group of five or more people in the state. Only those who are not part of a class are allowed to abstain from voting.

How do the salaries of state constitutional officers in West Virginia compare to other states? 

According to the Council of State Governments (CSG), the average salary for a governor is just below $150,000. That was the previous salary amount in West Virginia, but it has now been raised above $190,000 and tied to the state’s standard of living moving forward based on federal salary tables. Legislators said at the time that such a system means it could go up or down year by year. 

That proved true, as from the time they enacted the change in 2023 to the time it was implemented in 2025, the governor’s salary increased from $150,000 to $190,000. 

West Virginia has the highest gubernatorial salary in the region except for Pennsylvania, where it’s over $210,000 annually. 

In Kentucky, the governor is paid $152,000. In Virginia, the governor is paid $175,000. In Ohio, the governor is paid $168,000. 

Similarly, the salaries of constitutional officers in West Virginia is now significantly higher than the average of surrounding states. For example, according to CSG, the average salary for a secretary of state is $121,000 while now in West Virginia the secretary of state makes $161,000. 

How does legislator pay in West Virginia compare to other states? 

According to the National Conference on State Legislators, pay varies greatly from state to state. For example, in Virginia delegates are paid $17,640 per year while senators are paid $18,000. Like West Virginia, they are part-time lawmakers with other jobs. Kentucky is similar with a part-time legislature that pays nearly $14,000 per year. 

However, in states like Pennsylvani,a legislators serve full-time and receive $106,422.33 per year as salary. 

West Virginia falls in the center for part-time legislator pay. For more information, visit here.

How did legislators vote on the issue of raising legislator pay?   

The legislative pay raises were contained in SB740, a bill which originated in the Senate’s powerful Committee on Rules. It lists no sponsors. 

Senate Rule 15 says, “Each bill or resolution for introduction shall be presented in duplicate and electronically, bearing the name of the member or members by whom it is to be introduced, and shall be filed with the Clerk not later than twelve o’clock noon on the legislative day next preceding its introduction: Provided, That the pre-filing requirement shall not apply to the first day of any session of the Legislature. A bill may be introduced by request. All bills introduced by request shall bear the words ‘By Request’, following the designation of the name or names of the bill sponsor or sponsors.”

Bills also must be introduced before the 41st day of a legislative session, ordinarily. SB740 was introduced after that deadline, allowing legislators to utilize Rule 14 and originate the bill in the Committee on Rules where a sponsor does not have to be listed. 

SB740 raising legislator pay passed 26-7 in the Senate. Here’s the vote: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/2023/RS/votes/senate/03-01-0345.pdf

In the House, it passed 54-43. Here’s the vote: https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/2023/RS/votes/house/00712.pdf

The majority of delegates and senators who voted for the pay raise in 2023 via that bill still serve in 2025 and received the pay raise they voted for. No one asked for a ruling from the chair if they should be excused from voting before the Senate vote. 

The bill also raised the amounts paid to legislators for travel to and from legislative session as well as for interim meetings. 

According to then-Senate Finance Chair Eric Tarr, ““Members would be entitled to receive interim compensation on all interim days rather than only on days a members has a scheduled interim committee meeting.” 

Because of these supplementals, the Senate budgeted $29,000 for salary for all senators in 2026 while the House budgeted $35,000 for salary for all delegates in the coming year.