Three NK Legislators to Decline Pay Raise

Although many state legislators will be taking a $223 raise this year, a handful of local delegates are saying no to the 1.6 percent raise – including two North Kingstown senators and one North Kingstown representative.

State Senators James Sheehan (D- Dist. 36) and Dawson Hodgson (D- Dist. 35) and Representative Doreen Costa (R- Dist. 31) are all declining the legislative raise.

"I know it's a very small raise but it's a symbolic gesture," said Hodgson, who is joined by the rest of his GOP caucus in the state senate in declining the pay raise. "We're trying to show some respect for folks that have worked hard for our community in the past and still do."

"I ran on a platform of lower taxes and this is something I just had to do. It's just the right thing to do," said Costa, who was the first state representative to decline the raise.

As next month's special legislative session on pension reform looms, all three delegates say now is not the time for an increase to salary. The 1.6 percent increase, tied to alterations in the cost of living, is the first pay increase after two years of pay cuts. Last year, when it seemed the legislature would be getting a pay increase, Sheehan donated the would-be difference to the Rhode Island Food Pantry.

"I just feel strongly that, this year, we're making cuts and budgets that affect real people," said Sheehan. "In principle, we shouldn't be giving out raises to ourselves."

The pay for the part-time lawmakers will jump from $13,962.55 to $14,185.95, or $223.40 per legislator. If all delegates declined the raise, that figure would total $25,244.20. For Hodgson, the gesture is an example of how smaller concessions can add up to bigger savings for the state.

"What if everybody said no to legislative grants? There's $1.2 million that can be used for the public good," said Hodgson. "All those little decisions, they add up to numbers that really do make an impact."