Virginia lawmakers complete the bulk of their work in either 45 or 60 days, depending on the year, give or take a special session or two. As with any political system, there’s bound to be disagreement about the value of a lawmaker's work, but we can all agree that lawmakers do indeed work, and are compensated for doing so. 

So how are Virginia lawmakers compensated, and how much is their legislative staff paid? And how does lawmaker pay stack up relative to other comparable states? 

Members of the Virginia House of Delegates receive an annual salary of $17,640, while their Senate counterparts receive an $18,000 annual salary. This has been the case for roughly 30 years now; lawmakers have not received a pay raise since 1988, when the annual salary for both delegates and senators was raised from $11,000 per year to $18,000 per year. The House voted to lower its salary by 2% to the current sum in 1992, the same year state employees received a 2% pay cut. 

An annual salary is not the only way Virginia lawmakers are compensated, however. During legislative sessions, lawmakers receive a daily payment intended to cover the costs of spending time in Richmond, including meals, lodging, and other ordinary expenses. This payment, known as a per diem, totals $211 each day. Members can expect a total of $12,660 in per diem payments during 60-day sessions, and $9,495 in per diem payments during 45-day sessions. The per diem is determined based on U.S. General Services Administration calculations indicating how much it costs to travel in Richmond for a day. 

Since some lawmakers are able to sleep under their own roofs during session, rules regarding per diems change based on where lawmakers live. For delegates who live more than 50 miles from Richmond, per diems are non-taxable, the logic being that those closer to Richmond don’t need to have certain expenses covered. Senators residing near Richmond receive a per diem of just $74. No receipts are required for lawmakers to receive this per diem.

Lawmakers are also compensated for official meetings attended outside of general and special sessions. Lawmakers are paid $300 a day to attend these meetings; if two or more meetings occur in one day, the rate increases to $400 a day. Dozens of these meetings occur each year; they can be tracked by viewing the General Assembly’s meeting calendar.

It’s likely that very little would happen at the General Assembly if lawmakers didn’t have paid staff to support their work. Thus, the Virginia state budget includes compensation for legislative staffers. Each member of the House is provided with $44,125 each year to compensate legislative aids, while members of the Senate are provided $49,641 to compensate their legislative aids. Additionally, all members of the General Assembly receive $1,250 each calendar month in order to cover office expenses and supplies.

The National Conference of State Legislatures classifies state legislative session lengths as either full-time, part-time, or hybrid. Compared to other states, Virginia is considered to have a hybrid legislature, meaning lawmakers typically spend about two-thirds of the year fulfilling legislative duties. According to the NCSL, the average pay for lawmakers in hybrid states is $41,110, suggesting Virginia lawmakers are underpaid for their work. 

Lawmakers have the power to alter their salary, and have attempted to do so in the past. But the notion of lawmakers voting to give themselves a pay raise doesn’t always make for good press, meaning lawmakers are unlikely to see higher pay anytime soon.