LINCOLN- Compensation for Nebraska’s 49 state senators could be removed from the state constitution, possibly making it easier to change the annual $12,000 salary. The Nebraska Legislature’s Executive Board, the top-ranking committee overseeing daily legislative operations, voted unanimously Wednesday to advance Legislative Resolution 25CA, which would create a “nonpartisan, independent legislative compensation commission.” Future lawmakers would need to set specific parameters for the commission, such as the number of members, a method for appointing commissioners, or which branch of government controls the commission.

The proposed constitutional amendment would remove the requirement that voters approve any pay increase for legislators at the ballot box and put that power in the hands of the newly created commission. Voters last approved a pay increase narrowly in the 1988 primary election, raising state senators’ monthly salary from $300 a month (or $4,800 annually) to $1,000 a month (or $12,000 annually). Voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed pay increase in 2012. The latest proposal, from State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, who chairs the Executive Board, would go to voters in November 2026 if passed by the Legislature.

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