Since January 1 Legislators Have Taken:

 

Regional Legislative Pay
Oklahoma $38,400 per year
Missouri $31,351 per year
Colorado $30,000 per year
Arkansas $14,067 per year
Kansas $83.14 per day ($7,316 on 88 day session)
Texas $7,200 per year
New Mexico $0 per year

One of Representative Murphey's first pieces of legislation was aimed at enacting spending cuts in legislative pay. Representative Murphey is a leader in the fight for cutting state spending and he feels that the legislature should set the example. Oklahoma has the third highest part time paid legislature in the nation and at 38,400 per yer Oklahoma legislative salaries are more than two times the average legislative salary in Oklahoma's 7 state region which average at 14,989.

 Murphey's legislation would tie legislative salaries in Oklahoma to the per capita income of the average Oklahoma. This would save the taxpayers in the area of 2,000,000 per year by cutting legislative salaries from 38,400 to just over 32,000. This would also provide true incentive for Legislators to enact pro-growth policies such as the elmination of the state's income tax. With economic growth the average Oklahoman will make more money as would the elected leaders who are responsible for this growth. Until Murphey's legislation becomes law he has pledged to donate the difference in his legislative salary and the difference in the per capita average of the working Oklahoman to a Guthrie area crisis pregnancy center.