Spender of the House Declines $800 Pay Raise, Receives Million Dollar Budget Increase

By Lee Hedgepeth Alabama Political Reporter Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard has declined an automatic pay raise scheduled for this year that would amount to around $66 a month. The budget increase for his office, however, will well make up for the difference, with the Speaker's appropriation increasing by $83,434 a month. Pursuant to a controversial legislator pay raise passed in 2007, lawmakers have the ability to receive cost of living increases every fiscal year. Given these increases, a current Alabama legislator makes just under $57,000. The income of an average Alabamian household is about $14,000 less than that, at around $43,000 annually. Legislators can also only meet for official business thirty legislative days, making the daily pay for their part time job about $1,900. Speaker Hubbard, who has been seriously implicated in an ongoing public corruption investigation by the Attorney General's Office, has declined the $66 a month raise, doing so – as all legislators must – by notifying the Clerk by letter. Despite this meager “loss,” the Speaker's official budget has increased this year by $1,000,000. According to official budget reports from the Legislative Fiscal Office, under the leadership of the Auburn native, the Office of the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives has spent more money every year since his election, more than doubling on average from the previous quadrennium under Democratic Speaker Seth Hammett. From 2011-2014, Speaker Hubbard's annual spending has averaged $1,931,811. The four years prior, former Speaker Hammett's in-office expenses averaged $748,395. In 2013, the last full year of finalized spending disclosures, the Office of the Speaker spent a whopping $2,257,179, a budget totaling more than that of the Office of the Governor ($1,187,616) and the Alabama Ethics Commission ($1,822,177) this fiscal year. In addition, since his Storming of the State House in November 2010, Speaker Mike Hubbard has not only been budgeted more money annually, he has broken his budget by at least six figures every year, with his office spending over $900,000 more than allotted in both 2012 and 2013. The pay increase available to Hubbard and other lawmakers would have been around $792 annually, about $66 a month, a sum which the Speaker has declined. By contrast, the “raise” received by the Speaker's office amounts to over $1,000,000 annually, or around $83,000 a month. To put that in perspective, Hubbard's office is effectively receiving a $66 pay raise every half hour – 7 days a week, 365 days a year. While Speaker Hubbard did decline the raise, a majority of legislators in his chamber accepted it. In the House of Representatives, 66 lawmakers accepted the increase and 38 declined. In the Senate the majority refused the pay increase, with 21 declining and 14 accepting the $66 a month. Some legislators who declined the automatic pay raise have criticized those who accepted it, citing the legislature's failure to give teachers or state employees 2% raises that had been requested by Governor Bentley. One of those critics is Senator Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville, who successfully sponsored legislation that will base lawmaker pay on the median Alabama income mentioned earlier, a little over $40,000. "I think it's ridiculous that the legislators took automatic COLA increases while telling state employees and teachers that they couldn't have a raise,” the Senator said. Below is a list of those who declined the pay raise. All others will automatically receive it. House of Representatives: Richard Baughn, R-Lynn Elaine Beech, D-Chatom K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville Mac Buttram, R-Cullman Steve Clouse, R-Ozark Terri Collins, R-Decatur Randy Davis, R-Daphne Paul DeMarco, R-Homewood Allen Farley, R-McCalla Lynn Greer, R-Rogersville Alan Harper, R-Newport Ed Henry, R-Decatur Steve Hurst, R-Munford Ken Johnson, R-Moulton Ron Johnson, R-Sylacauga Wayne Johnson, R-Ryland Mike Jones, R-Andalusia Paul Lee, R-Dothan Wes Long, R-Guntersville Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery Jim McClendon, R-Springville Mac McCutcheon, R-Huntsville John Merrill, R-Tuscaloosa Barry Moore, R-Enterprise Johnny Mack Morrow, D-Red Bay Jim Patterson, R-Meridianville Dimitri Polizos ,R-Montgomery Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa Kerry Rich, R-Albertville Bill Roberts, R-Jasper David Sessions, R-Grand Bay Harry Shiver, R-Bay Minette Mark Tuggle, R-Alexander City Lesley Vance,R-Phenix City Kurt Wallace, R-Maplesville April Weaver, R-Alabaster Dan Williams, R-Athens Senate: Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa Scott Beason, R-Gardendale Dick Brewbaker , R-Pike Road Paul Bussman, R-Cullman Gerald Dial, R-Lineville Rusty Glover, R-Semmes Bill Hightower, R-Mobile Jimmy Holley, R-Elba Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison Tammy Irons, D-Florence Del Marsh, R-Anniston Shad McGill, R-Scottsboro Arthur Orr, R-Decatur Greg Reed, R-Jasper Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville Clay Scofield, R-Guntersville Harri Anne Smith, I-Slocomb Bryan Taylor, R-Prattville Cam Ward, R-Alabaster Tom Whatley, R-Auburn Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City