What a Senator Owes
In his recent newsletter, Oregon Senator Daniel Bonham - my 2022 opponent - betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of public service.
In his February 2nd newsletter, Sen. Bonham led with his opposition to better pay for lawmakers.
“This week, on the Floor of the Senate, I spoke out against SB 786. SB 786 would increase elected legislators’ salaries (paid for by taxpayers) by nearly double from $32,000 to $62,000…I’ve yet to meet a constituent who demands higher pay for state lawmakers.”
Lack of Constituent Engagement
The fact that Sen. Bonham is unaware of any constituent demanding higher pay for state lawmakers shows he is not doing his job. Morally, he is obligated to engage with and represent all constituents, including 40.8% who voted for his opponent (me). If he were spending time learning the concerns and priorities of the 40%, he would have met many constituents who understand the need for fair legislator pay.
In fact, one of his notable constituents is former Oregon Representative Anna Williams (HD 52) of Hood River. She represented one of the two house districts that make up his senate district. Rep. Williams declined to run again in 2022 precisely due to the financial hardship of serving as an underpaid legislator. She was one of three who left for that reason. All brought tremendous personal and professional insight and skill to their positions, and the capitol is the poorer for their absence.
Representatives Williams and Prusak used their remaining campaign funds for a political action committee called the 9 to 5 PAC—with the goal of electing working people who better represent the state’s diversity. According to a fundraising email, this year the PAC has received a boost from several funders who “understand that a diverse legislature is a truly representative legislature, and the low wages Oregon pays makes it nearly impossible for people who aren't already well-off to serve in that body.” Read more about the PAC below.
An OPB article described pressures that contributed to the three legislators’ decision not to run again: “[S]essions…cannot exceed 160 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years. But special legislative sessions are becoming increasingly more regular; with lawmakers called back to Salem to tackle unfinished business at unexpected times.”
A Senator’s Duties…and Value for Money
Being a state senator IS a full-time job, when discharged faithfully. Here are some time-intensive obligations required to understand one’s district as part of legislative duties. They require much time to carry out, especially in such a large, rural district:
Attending city council meetings and meeting with mayors and city council members individually to understand their concerns and issues facing their communities. By my count, in Senate District 26 (SD 26) there are nine larger cities. Of course, smaller municipalities deserve the senator’s attention, too, even if on rarer visits.
Meeting with other civic leaders, including each community’s…
School district superintendent and community college president, if any
Chief of police and sheriff
Chamber of Commerce president/CEO
Civic organizations like Rotary, Kiwanis Club, etc.
Attending meetings of other legislative bodies, such as economic development districts, county commissions, ports, PUDs, soil and water conservation districts—again, in each county and larger city.
Attending (or even convening) community-based meetings on issues such as:
Housing affordability
Agriculture
Climate change
Healthcare access and public health
Economic vitality and fairness
Immigration and social justice
Public safety and emergency preparedness
Infrastructure (Kudos: then-Rep. Bonham convened an excellent symposium on rural broadband access in 2019)
Seeking out and receiving briefings from think tanks and professional associations on the wide variety of issues impacting the district and state on topics listed above.
Attending community events more ceremonial in nature: parades, fairs, festivals, and community meals (like the Boring Grange Hall’s annual Strawberry Waffle Breakfast or community Thanksgiving meal in The Dalles).
Communicating with constituents about lessons learned through this multifaceted deep-dive into issues—via newsletter, social media, and appearances on local news radio.
Hosting town halls across four counties and nine larger cities.
Speaking with journalists representing major news sources in the district—of which there are eight in SD 26.
Meeting with individual constituents to hear their concerns.
And, of course—PARTICIPATING IN LEGISLATIVE DUTIES, which include reading and writing proposed legislation, independent background research, and participating in extensive meetings, both regular and special legislative meetings.
Caveats
Senator Bonham may be unfamiliar with the hard work required of an elected, since his prior campaigns appear to have been easily bankrolled by state Republican leadership, with little individual fundraising, voter canvassing, or general campaigning demanded of him.
It may also be that Senator Bonham feels his level of (evidently part-time) civic service is only worth $32,000. That says more about him than it does about the demands of the job or what constituents deserve for the tax money.
Cost of Living
A second puzzle piece involves reviewing how an Oregon legislator can be expected to perform these duties given the cost of living.
One website describes the problem succinctly: “The average salary in Oregon is $75,000, which is roughly $10,000 higher than the national average (13%). Although it helps, it doesn’t quite overcome the high expenses.”
How exactly is a legislator supposed to survive on a salary less than half the inadequate state average? The dirty secret is they aren’t. Either the legislator will devote significant time to another line of work, short-changing their constituents and legislative duties, or they will rely on private wealth, which distances them from the ordinary realities and challenges faced by the majority of Oregonians.
Note that the $32,000 base salary (or $2,667 per month, pre-tax) should cover housing (when $1,400 per month for a 1-bedroom apartment in The Dalles is a unicorn low price), utilities, food, various forms of insurance, vehicle payment(s), incidentals, any educational loan repayments, emergency/retirement savings, and travel expenses—which will be extensive if a senator is properly traveling around a large, rural district like SD 26.
Those who can cover personal and family expenses, plus added travel expenses, on $2,667 per month pre-tax occupy a privileged position, whatever their emotional allegiance to working and/or middle class people—likely from either a high-paying job, business ownership, inherited wealth, and/or unusual luck in the housing market (buying low and/or avoiding moves).
Please note also the privilege in being able to campaign—an unpaid job that lasts 9-14 months, depending on when a candidate declares. Granted, Democrats typically do have to campaign, while Republican candidates benefit from a funding system that usually provides massive corporate sums with little apparent candidate effort.
[See my earlier post for more on campaign inequities.]
Is Financial Ease the Best Qualification for Service?
The more fundamental problem haunting campaigns and elections in the U.S. is a problematic mix of classism and doubtful theology that leads to a widespread and frequently unquestioned assumption about money: Those who have it are morally superior to those who lack it.
The assumption that wealth aligns with moral worth psychologically distances those who enjoy economic ease from the terrifying vulnerability of economic distress, which is likely the point. It becomes easy to blame individuals for their poverty or financial challenges, rather than doing the hard work of understanding multifaceted and complex factors that lead to current realities—and acting to promote a more just economic system (like that laid out in “Donut Economics”).
It’s much simpler, and regrettably mean-spirited, to assume that lack of money is its own indictment.
The current system expects legislators will be business owners who can take time off from their obligations (Mr. Bonham’s situation), wealthy retirees, or to have wealthy partners who finance their partner’s poorly-paid legislative service. This severely limits the pool of candidates and thus life experiences from which legislators can draw to serve their diverse constituents.
As a Christian who describes his faith as very important to him, I hope Senator Bonham will lean into embodying Jesus’s love for the poor—and preference for spending time with them and others who are socially marginalized. And to follow Jesus’s admonition to love not only our neighbors, but our enemies as well.
In Summary
Sen. Bonham is mistaken in two key areas:
Not recognizing the time-intensive obligation to know and represent his constituents’ diverse interests.
Not understanding how underpaying state legislators deprives Oregonians of the good governance they need and deserve in challenging times.
Action Steps
Subscribe to Sen. Bonham’s newsletter. I do appreciate that he is open about his priorities, assumptions underlying them, and the concrete legislative steps he is taking to promote them. This openness offers the opportunity to offer clear, informed feedback when constituents’ interests differ.
Communicate with his office at 503-986-1726 or Sen.DanielBonham@oregonlegislature.gov.
Share your thoughts via op-eds to your local SD 26 newspaper.
Invite Sen. Bonham to your community meeting or to receive a briefing from your policy-related public interest group. If he is reluctant to attend, remind him of his sworn obligation to represent all his constituents.
More About the 9 to 5 PAC
The PAC is led by former Oregon Representatives Anna Williams and Rachel Prusak (a continuance of Anna’s campaign PAC; I’m grateful for her donation early in my campaign).
Their “About” page summarizes the importance of a fair wage for legislators:
While the work of the Oregon Legislature was once part-time, it has become a full time role for anyone who wants to get it right. Yet it is impossible to invest the time needed to do the job correctly when we are not earning a livable wage.
…[W]hat should be a citizen legislature has historically been picked from a small pool of wealthy or retired applicants.
We continue to perpetuate systems that leave Black, Indigenous, Latinx and women legislators behind. Most people cannot afford to even consider this job. This service is not what our state deserves. If this system is built for the financially well-off or the retired, will it ever work for you? What interests does this current structure serve?
Our retirement from the legislature is not a retirement from advocating for smart policy. The 9 to 5 PAC will help support working people running for office who would otherwise be kept out of the process and support those who will advocate to modernize the Legislature, pay legislators a fair wage, and fix Oregon's broken campaign finance system. This is the only way people with varied backgrounds and life experiences can serve our state.