By SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The salaries of Alabama’s 140 state lawmakers will rise by 7.15% next year, bringing their annual pay to $66,659 beginning in 2025, according to figures from the Alabama State Personnel Department.
The increase stems from a 2012 voter-approved constitutional amendment that ties legislators’ salaries to the state’s median household income — a formula meant to prevent political battles over pay raises.
When the amendment first took effect in 2015, it reduced lawmakers’ pay to $42,849, cutting salaries for many legislators at the time. Since then, lawmakers have received annual pay increases in all but two years, as Alabama’s median income has grown steadily.
The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey reported that Alabama’s median household income rose from $62,212 in 2023 to $66,659 in 2024. Under the constitutional formula, legislative pay automatically adjusts to match that figure.
The 2012 amendment, sponsored by Republicans after they took control of the Legislature, was passed partly in response to a controversial 61% legislative pay raise in 2007 enacted by the then-Democratic-controlled body. Lawmakers at the time overrode the veto of former Republican Gov. Bob Riley, raising salaries to $49,500 and setting up annual increases.
Public backlash over that decision helped fuel the GOP’s takeover of the Legislature in 2010, after more than a century of Democratic dominance.
Today, Alabama legislators earn nearly $24,000 more than they did in 2015. However, analysts with the Legislative Services Agency say that under the old pay system, lawmakers would be making about $69,757 this year — roughly $3,000 higher — if the 2012 reform hadn’t taken effect.
Lawmakers’ salaries are not tied to time spent in session, meaning they receive the same annual amount whether the Legislature is meeting or not. The base pay does not change for special sessions or additional committee work.
In addition to salaries, legislators are reimbursed for travel to and from Montgomery. Travel spending for the Legislature, including staff, has grown significantly — from $40,152 in fiscal 2014 to nearly $1 million in fiscal 2025, according to data from open.alabama.gov.