Curious Iowa: How much do Iowa lawmakers get paid and what ‘perks’ do they get?

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers recently wrapped up the 2024 session of the 90th Iowa General Assembly.

The session officially ended at 4:23 a.m. April 20 — its 104th day — after both chambers passed a resolution to adjourn sine die, with no appointed date to reconvene, capping a marathon 38 hours over two days and change.

Iowa utilizes a citizen legislature, meaning state representatives and senators do not quit their day jobs once elected. They spend four to six months out of the year working in the Capitol on legislation.

How much are lawmakers paid for their work? And what other perks come with the job? That’s what Jeffrey Schaefer of Linn County wondered. He wrote to Curious Iowa — a series from The Gazette that answers readers’ questions about our state, its people and the culture — wanting to know more about legislators’ compensation.

How much are members of the Iowa Legislature paid?

Members of the Legislature, since 2005, have been paid $25,000 a year. Some legislative leaders (House Speaker, Senate President, House and Senate majority and minority floor leaders) earn up to $37,000 per year. The president pro tem in the Senate and speaker pro tem in the House earn up to $27,000 a year.

House lawmakers passed a bill, 58-38, in the final days of the 2024 session to raise their pay, as well as the salary of statewide elected officials. The bill, House File 2700, was not taken up in the Senate.

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Multiple departing lawmakers during their retirement speeches in the final weeks of the session suggested raising the pay to make the job more appealing and ensure that working Iowans are able to realistically consider serving in office.

Rep. Phil Thompson, a Boone County Republican first elected to the Iowa House in 2018, said during his retirement speech earlier in April that while he enjoyed serving as a lawmaker, he and his wife are expecting their first child and he could not continue to afford serving as a legislator.

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"As rewarding as this work is, it really just isn’t cut out for working-age families,“ said Thompson, 33, who works as a contractor. ”You guys should fix that if you really want a representative government.”

The legislation would have increased lawmakers’ annual salary from $25,000 to $35,000 a year starting in 2025, after the next general election, and then tie their pay to inflation. The bill also would boost the salaries of legislative leaders, the governor, attorney general and other statewide elected officials, each by $10,000.

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Rep. Gary Mohr, a Republican from Bettendorf who introduced the measure, said legislative pay needs to be high enough to attract more interest from a broader range of candidates, beyond those who are retired, independently wealthy or who own their own business.

“If we truly want to attract a quality of people to be in the Legislature, that’s cross-representative of Iowans, that’s what we want, I think we need to raise that salary,” said Mohr, a retired higher education administrator.

What other benefits or ‘perks’ do they receive?

In addition to their salary, lawmakers receive a per-diem allowance for food and lodging that amounts to $178 a day for those outside Polk County and $133.50 for those in Polk County. The per diem is paid for 110 days in the first session after a general election and 100 days in the second, and lawmakers also can receive it if they travel to Des Moines for interim committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session.

Lawmakers also receive mileage reimbursement and retirement benefits through the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System and have the option to receive health insurance through the state.

In total, 75 of 100 state representatives and 46 of 50 senators take insurance with the state.

Lawmakers who live in Polk County are not eligible for mileage reimbursement. Both mileage and per diem are based on federal rates set by the U.S. General Services Administration.

They also receive a $300 monthly legislative district constituency allowance to cover postage, travel, telephone costs and other expenses.

Do they have an office and staff?

Lawmakers select a legislative clerk who provides administrative support during the legislative session. The clerks assist lawmakers in research for proposed legislation, draft emails/letters to constituents and schedule and coordinate meetings with outside groups. The legislative clerk works roughly 32 hours per week with the hours being set by the lawmaker.

The state of Iowa pays the clerks as “session-only” employees. Their pay ranges from $13.93 to $22.81 an hour, with higher pay if the lawmaker is an assistant leader or chair, vice chair or ranking member of a legislative committee.

Committee chairs have cubicles throughout the Iowa State Capitol building. House and Senate majority and minority leadership have their own offices. Assistant leaders for majority and minority parties have office space a little bigger than a cubicle.

Where do they live while the Legislature is in session?

Lawmakers arrange their own housing during session. Some share houses or apartments. Others rent an Airbnb, stay in a hotel, sign a short-term lease for an apartment in the Des Moines metro, or commute depending on the drive.

How do they balance being a lawmaker and their full-time job?

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Farmers, business professionals and owners, and educators account for the majority of Iowa legislators’ day jobs.

While some legislators listed more than one occupation, the Legislature has at least 24 business professionals and 16 business owners, 22 farmers, nine educators and eight attorneys.

At least 24 of the 150 members of the Iowa Legislature are retired.

Being a lawmaker while also holding down a steady job or running a business means juggling a demanding schedule and having an employer willing to be flexible.

When not at the Capitol, state Rep. Molly Buck teaches fourth grade in the Ankeny Community School District.

Buck, a Democrat and colon cancer survivor, teaches classes starting at 7:45 a.m. on Mondays until 11:30 a.m., then heads to the Capitol. The Iowa Legislature typically gavels in after noon on Mondays, and may have committee and subcommittee meetings scheduled for late morning.

During the session, lawmakers typically work Monday through Thursday at the Capitol, and head back home to their jobs, the farm or their business.

For Buck, Fridays entail a full day of teaching, and the weekends consist of grading papers, planning lessons for the upcoming week and gathering materials for the long-term substitute who teaches and helps manage her classes while she’s at the Capitol.

While being a legislator is a significant time commitment, Buck shared her experience with cancer and how it has shaped her perspective on life and work, emphasizing the importance of resilience and service.

“I ran because I was a teacher and very concerned about education in our state,” she told The Gazette. “And so I get to still bookend my time here (at the Capitol) with my ‘why.’ So I like that. … It's a busy schedule, but I've always been a chronically busy person. I'm not one for sitting down.”

For those considering running for the Iowa House or Senate who are skittish about the commitment involved and balancing home, work and the Legislature, Buck emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and setting boundaries.

“I think you have to know yourself as a person, but it isn't not doable,” she said. “And there are people here to lean on, and if you have a job where you can lean on others — I mean, you also have to be able to do that — you have to be able to lean on people. And I would encourage anybody to run for office.”

Buck, though, also spoke of the financial challenges for working Iowans to serve in the Legislature and the need for a pay raise to make the job more palatable.

“It has been a bit of a pay cut for me,” she said. “My pay is divided up over the course of an entire year. But when they take pay for me, they divide my paycheck up over the 180 days that I'm contracted (to teach) and they take 180th of my paycheck for every day that I'm (not teaching). So every day that I'm gone is a bigger chunk than a day of pay. So this is a hard job for teachers.”

State Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, said balancing work and family as a lawmaker is challenging.

“Obviously, there are certain occupations like being a physician or a farmer or lawyer where you can be of your own practice,” take time away from the job and set your own schedule, he said.

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Fortunately for Scheetz, a union organizer for the Teamsters, his employer is flexible, allowing him to work remotely on evenings after lawmakers have adjourned for the day and on weekends.

“A lot of us have to do our other jobs at night when we're not physically in the Capitol" or attending legislative events and receptions, he said. ”So it's a lot of work, but a lot of us have to be able to put food on the table and that requires doing more than one job for five months out of the year.“

Scheetz disputed the common misconceptions about the job of a state lawmakers including high pay and easy schedule.

Monday mornings usually consist of meetings in Cedar Rapids with constituents and community leaders, then driving to Des Moines for legislative work at the Capitol, and more meetings back in the district on Friday.

Maintaining residences in two cities for almost half of the year also becomes challenging financially, “especially if you're young" and ”working class or middle class,“ said Scheetz, who is 27. He said he signed a four-month lease for an apartment in Des Moines during the session.

“There are a number of times when people think we make six-figure salaries, doing this job or that we have offices,” he said. “ … Unfortunately, it does make it prohibitive for some excellent candidates and potential legislators … to consider doing this work, which is unfortunate.”

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Caleb McCullough of The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com