Legislative attorneys, who have been at their job for years, may well be getting a pay raise shortly.
House Majority Assistant Whip Val Peterson, R-Orem, has introduced a bill that would allow long-term legislative attorneys to get pay raises after they hit the top of their pay range.
“We’ve been losing a number of attorneys because they are topped out,” Peterson told UtahPolicy.com.
The salaries for attorneys at the Office of Legislative Research and General Council vary. But in general many are making around $120,000.
But compared to what many lawyers in private practice are making, that is not competitive, and so some are leaving after working for the Legislature of 10 or 15 years and looking down the road they can’t make much more in public service.
Also, the 104-part-time legislators keep requesting more and more bills to be drafted for the January general session, requiring the attorneys, who write the bills, to work long hours during the Christmas holidays. This year there may be 1,000 bills drafted, near a new record.
