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As the 2022 General Assembly session 鈥� and the terms of all state elected officials 鈥� winds down, a series of pay raises has quietly gone into effect.
Pay increase recommendations for the state鈥檚 judges and top elected officials automatically become law in Maryland if the General Assembly doesn鈥檛 act on them, a deadline that passed in mid-March. And with a few days left in the 90-day legislative session, it鈥檚 also likely that the state鈥檚 next set of legislators will have higher pay.
Delegates and senators will likely see a pay increase of about $6,306 鈥� an increase of more than 12% 鈥� during the next term, assuming the General Assembly doesn鈥檛 act on a compensation commission鈥檚聽.
According to the聽, the General Assembly can reduce or reject, but not increase, the final pay recommendations from the compensation commission. The committee鈥檚 finalized recommendations take effect when the next term of office in the General Assembly begins.
The General Assembly Compensation Commission recommended pay increases for lawmakers of 4% in 2023 and 2024 and 2% in 2025 and 2026. That would bring lawmakers鈥� salaries up to $56,636 in the fourth year of the next term. The current annual salary is $50,330.
The House speaker and Senate president would also see the same percentage salary increase under the commission鈥檚 proposal, bringing their pay from the current $65,371 to $73,562.
The compensation panel聽聽earlier this year, and according to the Department of Legislative Services, lawmakers only needed to act if they wanted to modify those recommendations.
Republican lawmakers introduced resolutions in both the House of Delegates and the Senate to reject the panel鈥檚 recommendations in an effort to create a public vote on the pay raises, with Senate Minority Leader Bryan W. Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel) criticizing the process in a March press release as being 鈥渄raped in the cloak of secrecy.鈥� But those measures didn鈥檛 advance out of committees in either chamber.
Members of the compensation panel were split on whether to recommend increased pay. Wendell G. Rakosky, a Hogan appointee to the commission, opposed significant raises to lawmakers鈥� salaries at a meeting in January, noting that Maryland legislators are among the highest-compensated in states the NCSL considers to have a聽, meaning the legislature isn鈥檛 full-time but lawmakers say they spend more than two-thirds of a full-time job being legislators.
But Lester Davis, a Jones appointee, said at that meeting that lawmakers are spending more time than before on legislative work outside of the session. In a Department of Legislative Services survey conducted as part of the panel鈥檚 work, lawmakers who responded said they spend a significant amount of time working on legislative issues outside of the session.
Of the 136 lawmakers who responded to that survey, 28% said they dedicate 40 or more hours per week to legislative activities outside of the legislative session, 29% said they spend between 30 and 39 hours per week on legislative activity, 36% said they spend between 20 and 29 hours per week and 7% indicated they spend less than 20 hours per week on legislative activities outside of the regular session. And roughly 96% of those lawmakers said they spend 40 or more hours per week on legislative activities during the regular 90-day legislative session.
According to a聽聽by the nonpartisan group New American Leaders, lawmakers鈥� pay is tied to who can afford to run for office and lower pay hampers diversity in legislatures. That report states that 鈥渢he flexibility required by legislatures is simply not the type of flexibility that industries like hospitality, administrative, social services, or educational fields can offer. Workers in industries that traditionally require more structured hours also struggle with access to the capital that is required to run for office in the first place.鈥�
Panelists worried that, if no increase was given, lawmakers would essentially see their compensation reduced due to inflation. According to the commission鈥檚 report, the average per capita personal income statewide in Maryland was $64,640 in 2020.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 give an increase, at the very least an inflationary increase, we鈥檙e actually reducing the salaries,鈥� Lyn Dippel, a Hogan appointee, said in January. Rakosky suggested the 4% increase for both 2023 and 2024 and 2% increase for 2025 and 2026 as a compromise, and panelists coalesced around that proposal.
Gubernatorial pay increases
Maryland鈥檚 next governor will also get a pay raise. The Governor鈥檚 Salary Commission, likewise appointed every four years to mull gubernatorial pay,聽聽for the governor and other top officials last year.
The governor鈥檚 salary will increase from the current $180,000 rate to $195,000 in 2026, an 8% increase. The next lieutenant governor will also see an increase during the next term from the $149,500 to $175,000. That amounts to an increase of 17%.
Unlike the General Assembly Compensation Commission鈥檚 recommendation, salary increases from the Governor鈥檚 Salary Commission are constitutionally required to be introduced in the General Assembly as a joint resolution. The General Assembly didn鈥檛 pass the聽聽with the recommended pay increases within 50 days of its introduction, which under Maryland law means the pay increases for governor and lieutenant governor were automatically adopted.
The Governor鈥檚 Salary Commission also recommended pay increases for the comptroller, attorney general and treasurer to mirror the lieutenant governor increase of $149,500 to $175,000 and a secretary of state pay increase from $105,500 to $120,000 in their聽. Those salaries are set in statute and need a regular bill to change, but as the clock ticks down on the 2022 legislative session, a measure to do so is languishing in the Senate.
, introduced by House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) at the request of the Governor鈥檚 Salary Commission, passed the House of Delegates on March 18 but has yet to receive a hearing in the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. And the bill鈥檚 crossfile, introduced by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City), has yet to advance out of that same committee despite having a hearing on February 9.
According to a Department of Legislative Services analysis conducted last year, Maryland鈥檚 governor was the ninth-highest paid in the nation. New York鈥檚 governor had the highest pay at $225,000.
Judicial pay increases
The Judicial Compensation Commission聽聽for judges statewide 鈥� a measure that likewise quietly went into effect when lawmakers didn鈥檛 act on the recommendations.
Court of Appeals Chief Judge Joseph M. Getty is set to retire this month as he reaches the state鈥檚 age limit for judges, but his successor will see a gradual salary increase from the current $215,433 to $255,433 by the 2026 fiscal year, according to the聽.
Associate judges on the Court of Appeals will also see salary increases, moving from the current $196,433 to $236,433.
The Court of Special Appeals鈥� chief judge will see a salary increase to $226,633 from the current $186,633 by the 2026 fiscal year. Associate Court of Special Appeals judges鈥� salaries will increase from $183,633 to $223,633 over that same time period.
The salary of judges in circuit courts statewide will increase from the current $174,433 to $214,433. District court chief judges鈥� salaries will increase from $183,633 to $223,633, and district court associate judges鈥� salaries will move from $161,333 to $201,333 by the 2026 fiscal year.
Like the Governor鈥檚 Salary Commission, the recommendations from the Judicial Compensation Commission are introduced as a joint resolution and are automatically enacted if the General Assembly doesn鈥檛 adopt the measure within 50 calendar days of its introduction.
