It would be reasonable for the Kansas Legislature to pursue a pay increase in a future session.

Legislators currently earn about $8,000 in salary plus $142 per day in expenses when the Legislature is in session. The low pay has been cited as a significant contributing factor in the increasing age of the members of the Legislature.

The median age of a Kansas legislator is 60.4 years. Of the 165 current members of the Kansas House and Senate, only 12 are younger than 40, and only 32 active legislators are younger than 50.

And the Legislature’s younger generation is losing a member in 33-year-old John Wilson, a Lawrence state representative who announced on the final day of the 2017 session that he would resign his seat after 2.5 terms in office.

“I think there’s a reason why there aren’t a lot of 30-something lawmakers like me,” said Wilson, the fourth-youngest member of the Legislature. “We’re starting our families and building our careers. And let’s be honest. How many employers are as generous as mine that allows me to work part-time for five or six months — or seven months, or whatever it’s going to be — out of every single year? There’s not many.”

Lawrence Republican Rep. Tom Sloan who, at 71, ranks 14th from the top on the age list, said the current structure effectively limits who can participate.

“By category, the largest group of legislators are retired,” Sloan said. “Then I would say the second largest group are supported by someone else. In other words you have a spouse, or a brother maintains the farm.”

Kansas is not unique in only paying its legislators for days when the Legislature is in session, but at $88.66 per calendar day, Kansas has one of the lowest rates in the country. Among some of the higher rates, Kentucky pays $188.22 per day, and Utah pays $273 per day, according to information from the Council of State Governments. Many states pay lawmakers a regular annual salary, ranging from $7,200 in Texas to $104,118 in California.

Legislators are recognizably hesitant to enhance their pay, especially when the state faces a budget crisis like Kansas has in recent sessions. But Kansans are not well served by a pay policy that restricts who can represent them in the Legislature. Increasing legislative pay should be a priority in the next session.