As a state lawmaker, Doug Clark is used to discussing issues important to students. One morning last month, he met with two dozen boys at Boulder Creek High School in Anthem.
The subject: gearing up for the soccer season.
“We’re going to have practice out there every Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” Clark tells his audience. “This is going to be a winning season.”
Clark, a Republican, is finishing his first term representing District 6, which stretches from north Phoenix past New River, in the state House of Representatives. He isn’t running for re-election, instead opting to become the school’s head soccer coach.
Colleagues, Democrats as well as Republicans, say Clark is an example of someone who could make a great impact at the Arizona State Legislature. But Clark said he simply can’t afford to continue in the role because of the low pay and the time required.
“On June 30th, you can’t just turn on a light switch and make in five months all the money you need for the year,” Clark said.
In November, voters will decide whether to increase state lawmakers’ pay from $24,000 to $30,000. It would be the first raise for lawmakers in 10 years. Since 1998, voters have defeated four other attempts to increase lawmakers’ pay.
Supporters of Proposition 300 acknowledge that it’s easy to reject the idea of a raise as a protest or out of concern for the state budget. But they say the pay lawmakers receive costs Arizonans in other ways.
The Legislature began as a two-month exercise, but now sessions can run as long as six months and require lawmakers to put in more than 60 hours a week. That makes it difficult for people with full-time jobs and families to take on the role, supporters of the raise say.
“We are way too overweighted with people that are retired or run their own business or people who are married to someone who is wealthy,” said state Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson. “We don’t represent Arizonans that spend 40 hours a week working.”
Low pay and low appreciation pushes candidates to find other means to supplement their incomes, said David Berman, a professor emeritus of political science at ASU.
“When you feel that you’re not being appreciated you don’t put as much effort into your work, and you’re more susceptible to people offering money,” Berman said.
State Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, said she opposes the raise because of the poor economy, which has state, county and local governments cutting back.
Sinema has several part-time jobs, including political consulting and teaching at ASU. She worked full-time as a social worker and attorney before joining the House of Representatives.
“You can’t have a full-time job and work in the Legislature,” Sinema said.
Tom Jenney, executive director of the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers, said the group isn’t necessarily opposed to a raise for lawmakers.
“The problem is we definitely don’t want to go toward encouraging a full-time Legislature and people to become full-time politicians,” Jenney said.
