Money - or rather the lack of it - is driving Jim Lintz from the South Dakota Legislature.

The popular Republican state senator from Hermosa is calling it quits after 10 years in the Legislature.

Lintz said his main reason for not running again is the cost of serving. He plans to vote for a proposal to raise legislative pay from the current $6,000 a year salary to $8,000. Legislators also are paid $110 per day for expenses during the session and for summer committee meetings in Pierre.

But Lintz said the low salary for legislators is just one part of the financial sacrifice. "It's not the time I spend in Pierre that's the determining factor for not coming back," he said. "It's the time I spend throughout the year when we're not here."

Lintz says he spends on average three days a week in the summer going to meetings in his district. South Dakota legislators get no travel or other expense money for such non-session meetings outside of Pierre.

He said fellow longtime legislator Gordon Pederson of Wall logged 138 days on legislative duties one year, in addition to the session.

Lintz said he has never figured out what it costs him to serve in the Legislature. "It would probably come to quite a bit."

But he estimates that with fuel costs and meals, he can spend up to $100 on a trip to attend a meeting in his district.

Lintz also said his ranch has suffered from eight years of drought, adding to the financial burden.

"I'm going to take at least two years off and see if I can get out of this drought and get financially back on my feet."

Lintz and other backers of the proposal to raise legislators' pay contend the current low level of compensation limits who can afford to serve.

Sen. Royal "Mac" McCracken, R-Rapid City, voted for the pay raise Wednesday in the Senate State Affairs Committee. He said the $6,000 salary is not much for a person to take two to three months away from his or her job, profession or business.

"By raising it another $2,000 perhaps we can get more people interested in running for positions. Maybe this is just one more small step to get more candidates to run for public office," McCracken said.

Opponents of the pay raise, such as state Sen. Scott Heidepriem, D-Sioux Falls, say the low salary is a concern, but increasing it sends the wrong message at a time when the state is having trouble raising teachers' salaries. "The pay for teachers is the worst in the country in South Dakota, and people aren't going to be able to follow their passion if it's education," he said. "Symbolically, it's the wrong message."

Heidepriem, the Senate minority leader, said the pay raise isn't a partisan issue. He noted that Sen. Dave Knudson of Sioux Falls, the Republican majority leader, also voted against the pay raise in committee.

Rep. Garry Moore, D-Yankton, said the state budget is tight and this is not the time for a pay increase. "Maybe one of the reasons we have one of the lowest-paid citizen Legislatures in the nation is because maybe those people who pay us are among the lowest paid in the nation," Moore said on the House floor last week.

The House has approved the bill, HB1250, and it also has cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee. It could come to the Senate floor Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Rep. Larry Lucas, D-Mission, the bill's main sponsor, said the legislative salary has been at $6,000 per year since 1998, when it was raised from $4,000. After adjusting for inflation, lawmakers make 35 percent less than they did 30 years ago, he said.

Lucas said South Dakota has one of the lowest legislative salaries in the nation for a part-time citizen Legislature.

A survey of four neighboring states found Nebraska with the highest paid Legislature, at $12,000 per year. Exact comparisons are difficult because other states structure their compensation differently. But rough comparisons show legislative pay is $12,000 a year in Nebraska; a little less than $10,000 in North Dakota; about $3,700 in Montana plus benefits; and $4,500 in Wyoming.

In Montana, Karen Berger, financial services manager for the Legislative Services Division, said the Legislative Council has expressed concerns about low pay keeping some people from running.

In Nebraska, Bernie Scherr, research analyst with the Nebraska Legislative Research Office, said the low pay, expense reimbursement and lack of benefits make it difficult for young people to serve in the Legislature.

However, in Wyoming, Kathy Barrett, fiscal officer for the Legislative Service Office, said she hasn't heard legislators complaining about the pay.

Lucas said the South Dakota legislator's job involves much more than the days in session in Pierre, with commitments, meetings and appearances in events in the home district and elsewhere.

"It's a semi-full-time job," he said.

Benefits paid to legislators in the five-state region also vary greatly. North Dakota and Montana lawmakers get health care paid by the state. North Dakota and Wyoming provide Internet service.

Nebraska, like South Dakota, provides no benefits beyond salary and expenses for legislators.

Nationally, 43 states offer health insurance and 41 states offer retirement programs, Lucas said. South Dakota has neither, he said.

"The only fringe benefit we get is a place to park that's close to the Capitol."

South Dakota legislative pay timeline

1889 - Salary for South Dakota legislators set at $5 per day of the biennial session

1947 - $1,050 for each biennial session

1957 - $1,800 per biennial

1962 - Voters approve annual sessions.

1965 - Pay is $1,200 for a short session and $1,800 for a long session.

1969 - Pay increased to $5,000 for a two-year term

1989 - Pay raised to $8,000 for a two-year term

1999 - Pay raised to $6,000 per year

Legislator pay and benefits

South Dakota

Salary: $6,000 per year

Expenses: $110 per day in Pierre for the regular session or interim committee meetings

Mileage is paid at 5 cents per mile for the first trip to Pierre for the session, and 5 cents per mile for the final return trip home, based on a law going back to the early days of the Legislature. Other travel during the session and for interim committee meetings is reimbursed at 34 cents a mile.

Legislature meets for 40 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years.

Benefits: Free parking near the Capitol

Source: Legislative Research Council

North Dakota

Salary: $4,368 per year plus $130 per day in session for up to 80 days (approximately $10,400) Legislature meets every other year.

$104 per day for attending interim meetings.

Expenses include: Up to $55 per day plus tax for lodging, to a maximum of $900 per month

Mileage at 45 cents per mile for one round trip each week to and from Bismarck.

Benefits: Health insurance, laptops, home Internet service

Source: North Dakota Legislative Council

Montana

Salary: $82.67 per legislative day. Sessions are about 90 days every two years. Approximate total: $7,440 every two years.

Expenses: $98.75 per day during the legislative session

When serving on committees during the interim, legislators are paid expenses for lodging and meals and reimbursed mileage at 50.5 cents per mile.

Benefits: State employee benefits, including health care

Source: Montana Legislative Services Division

Wyoming

Salary: $150 per day of the session; Legislature meets in 40-day sessions in odd-numbered years and 20 days in even-numbered years, for an approximate salary of $6,000 and $3,000.

They are also paid the $150-per-day salary for official meetings at the Capitol or in their districts.

Expenses: $85 per day during session

Mileage paid at 35 cents per mile for one round trip and one extra trip home during the session.

Legislators are eligible to receive a constituent-service allowance up to $750 per quarter.

Benefits: Internet service up to $30 a month

Source: Legislative Service Office

Nebraska

Salary: $12,000 per year

No additional pay for special sessions, committees

Expenses: Up to $83 per day during the session, depending on the distance the member lives from Lincoln

Members are reimbursed for actual expenses of transportation, lodging and meals when traveling on official business.

The unicameral, bipartisan Legislature meets 90 days in one year and 60 days in the second year.

Sometimes, members can be reimbursed for meals for non-session meetings.

Benefits: None

Source: Nebraska Legislative Research Office

Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com