PIERRE - The South Dakota House of Representatives decided Monday to raise salaries for members of the Legislature for the first time since 1998
Lawmakers currently receive $6,000. The new plan would pay one-fifth of the household median income in South Dakota, approximately $10,500.
SB 214 now returns to the Senate for a decision whether to agree.
"We've exercised this right eight times," Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls said.
Karr said he hasn't heard any member of the public tell him no.
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"They told me, 'You guys need to do this, and you need to do it yourselves,'" Karr said.
Rep. Isaac Latterell, R-Tea, said the plan would automatically provide a pay raise each year and a two-thirds majority would be necessary to stop it.
"That seems a little bit strange to me," said Latterell, who voted against it.
