States with a full-time legislature

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Ten American states have a full-time state legislature. A full-time state legislature is defined as a legislature that meets throughout the year. All other legislators are considered part-time because they only meet for a portion of the year.

The full-time state legislatures are:

Defining a full-time state legislature

In June 2017, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released a study comparing full-time and part-time state legislatures. The data below was sourced from that 2017 study.

Number of staffers

As of 2017, full-time legislatures generally had larger staffs than other legislatures. A few exceptions to this rule were Florida and Texas, whose hybrid legislatures had larger staffs than a number of full-time legislatures. This meant that not all staff members worked at the State Capitol; some states with full-time legislatures also had district offices and staff.

Among all 50 states, each state averaged 682 staff members. The 10 full-time legislatures averaged 1,250 staff members each. Legislatures that spent more than two-thirds of a full-time job used 469 staff members on average. Legislatures that spent half of a full-time job used 160 staff members on average.[1]

Salary

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

When looking at salary, the NCSL study measured the overall salary of a legislator and not just the base salary alone. This included per diem payments, housing allowances in-session, mileage and expense reimbursements, and other necessary payments. Also, the length of the legislative session was accounted for in how much a legislator was paid, including if the legislature was called in special session, which could increase a legislator's salary.[1]

Time spent on the job

When the NCSL study defined how much time was devoted to state legislatures, it considered activities beyond the amount of time that was spent on the legislative floor. This included committee hearings, listening sessions, constituent service, and time spent during a campaign.

The following states had legislators who spent 84% of a full-time job on their legislative position. On average, each legislator was paid about $82,358.[1]

  • California
  • Michigan
  • New York
  • Pennsylvania
  • Alaska
  • Hawaii
  • Illinois
  • Massachusetts
  • Ohio
  • Wisconsin

The following states had legislators who spent 74% of a full-time job on their legislative position. On average, each legislator was paid about $41,110.[1]

  • Alabama
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Minnesota
  • Missouri
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Jersey
  • North Carolina
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Washington

The following states had legislators who spent 57% of a full-time job on their legislative position. On average, each legislator was paid about $18,449.[1]

  • Idaho
  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • Mississippi
  • New Hampshire
  • New Mexico
  • Rhode Island
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • West Virginia
  • Montana
  • North Dakota
  • South Dakota
  • Wyoming

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 NCSL, "Full and Part-Time Legislatures," June 14, 2017
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