As the Washington state Legislature currently is in session in Olympia, the following information may be of interest.
Like 48 of the other 49 states, Washington has a bicameral legislature. It is comprised of a House of Representatives with 98 members and a Senate with 49. As the House has an even number of members, a tie between the two political parties is possible with a joint speakership.
The outlier of the 50 states is Nebraska. Uniquely, the Cornhusker State has a unicameral legislature that is officially nonpartisan.
Bills passed by the Washington Legislature must be approved by the governor, currently Democrat Jay Inslee. Since its admittance to the federal union in 1889, Washington has had 23 governors, 12 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Republican Arthur Langlie is counted twice, as he served nonconsecutive terms.
Washington state legislators, whether senators or representatives, receive an annual salary of $57,876, with a per diem expense allowance of $190. This compares rather unfavorably with California, whose legislators receive $122,964 per year, and with New York, which pays even more at $142,000.
On the other hand, Oregon pays $35,052 and Idaho just $19,913. Even more parsimonious is Texas, which pays $7,200, and New Hampshire, which coughs up all of $100, with no per diem.
A typical worker earning a minimum wage of $15 per hour would earn more than that in a single day.
But even Granite State legislators are well paid compared to the earl marshal of England. This ancient post, eighth in precedence of the nine Great Offices of State, has special responsibilities on ceremonial occasions, such as the coronation of a new king. It is a hereditary possession of the Fitzalan-Howard family, whose current head is the 18th Duke of Norfolk.
Like all of his 48 predecessors since 1483, Norfolk receives an annual salary of 20 pounds sterling, the equivalent of about 25 American dollars. At 541 years, this is the longest salary freeze in history.
Incidentally, the highest paid Washington state employee was Kalen DeBoer, the former University of Washington football coach, who received an annual stipend of $4.2 million. Had the Huskies won the national title, the coach may have received a bonus.
Not that DeBoer is hurting. His salary was 21 times more than Gov. Inslee's, 22 times more than Attorney General Bob Ferguson's, 72 times more than a state legislator’s, and a staggering 168,000 times more than the earl marshal's.
Hereditary privilege isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
Joseph Tipler
Centralia
