A state senator is suing his fellow legislators in the South Carolina General Assembly, claiming that they are illegally giving themselves what is essentially a rise of $18,000 per year for all members of the assembly.
The increase in “in-district compensation,” which is money that is set aside for legislative duties and has few limits on how it can be spent, is scheduled to go from $1,000 per month to $2,500 per month beginning July 1 for all 46 senators and 124 members of the House of Representatives.
However, according to the lawsuit filed by Republican Senator Wes Climer, the rise is in violation of the state constitution, which prohibits the legislature from increasing their per diem while they are serving in office.
Members of the House of Representatives would receive 18 months’ worth of the additional funds, and senators would receive payments for more than three years before being up for reelection.
His legal action was analogous to requesting that a judge preside over his own trial or that a law enforcement officer conduct an investigation on his own.
The answer to the legal question will most likely depend on whether the additional funds are taken into account as part of a per diem for legislators and are intended to cover their day-to-day expenses or whether they are considered personal income that is subject to taxation.
The attorneys for both the House and the Senate have not yet responded to the lawsuit.
In a proviso, which is a one-year order on how to spend money, Republican Senator Shane Martin made the proposal for the rise late in the process of draughting the legislation that would govern the budget.
Martin stated that the increase was necessary to compensate for the effects of inflation, as the monthly stipend had not been altered in approximately thirty years.
Climer stated on Monday that he and other individuals who are opposed to the increase believe that it ought to have been approved as a standalone bill, with hearings and a comprehensive discussion.
“Regardless of how you feel about a legislative pay raise, this is the wrong way to do it. It violates the Madisonian principles that the legislature cannot take the people’s money and appropriate it to themselves in real time,” Climer stated.
In what seems to be an attempt to reach a decision before the raises begin when the fiscal year begins on July 1, the state Supreme Court ordered both sides to submit briefs by the end of the month, just hours after learning of the lawsuit.
Otherwise, “we’d have to try to claw back money from legislators. And we don’t want that,” stated Dick Harpootlian, a former Democratic state senator and the lawyer who brought the case on Climer’s behalf.
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In addition to their in-district pay, lawmakers receive a salary of $10,400 annually, which has remained constant since 1990. They also receive reimbursement for meals, travel expenses to Columbia, and lodging during class.
Since South Carolina’s General Assembly convenes three days a week from January through May, lawmakers are regarded as part-time employees.
House Clerk Charles Reid said in an email that 34 of the House’s 124 members rejected the additional in-district compensation after the House sent them a chance to do so.
According to Senate Clerk Jeffrey Gossett, Climer and two other Republicans have declined the rise, and senators have the right to directly request that their clerk not pay them.
Carol Herring, a Republican activist and retired educator, is joining Climer in the lawsuit. The immediate implementation of the rise, according to her, is detrimental to being a good servant.
“I am concerned we are sending people to Columbia to serve in the General Assembly, and somehow it is seen more as a job than part-time service to our state,” Herring stated.
