Article III, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution ("Compensation and Expenses of Legislators; Duration of Regular Sessions")

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As amended November 5, 1991:

(a) Members of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury a salary of six hundred dollars ($600) per month, unless a greater amount is recommended by the Texas Ethics Commission and approved by the voters of this State in which case the salary is that amount. Each member shall also receive a per diem set by the Texas Ethics Commission for each day during each regular and special session of the Legislature.

(b) No regular session shall be of longer duration than one hundred and forty (140) days.

(c) In addition to the per diem the members of each House shall be entitled to mileage at the same rate as prescribed by law for employees of the State of Texas.

Editor Comments

Under the Republic of Texas constitution (1836) and each of the state's first four constitutions (1845, 1861, 1866, & 1869), legislators were specifically authorized to set their own compensation and mileage rate.

For example, the 1845 constitution (Art. III, § 23) provided: "Each member of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury a compensation for his services, which may be increased or diminished by law."

As adopted in 1876, this section read: "The members of the Legislature shall receive from the public treasury such compensation for their services, as may, from time to time, be provided by law, not exceeding five dollars per day for the first sixty days of each session; and after that not exceeding two dollars per day for the remainder of the session; except the first session held under this Constitution, when they may receive not exceeding five dollars per day for the first ninety days, and after that not exceeding two dollars per day for the remainder of the session. In addition to the per diem the members of each House shall be entitled to mileage in going to and returning from the seat of government, which mileage shall not exceed five dollars for every twenty-five miles, the distance to be computed by the nearest and most direct route of travel by land regardless of railways or water routes; and the Comptroller of the State shall prepare and preserve a table of distances to each county seat now or hereafter to be established, and by such table the mileage of each member shall be paid; but no member shall be entitled to mileage for any extra session that may be called within one day after the adjournment of a regular or called session."

Between 1879 and 1991, the Legislature passed twenty-five proposed amendments affecting this section. Only five of those were approved by voters. Amendments were approved in 1930, 1954, 1960, 1975, and 1991.

The 1960 amendment added a salary component to legislators' allowed compensation. The ballot proposition, approved by 56% of voters, read: "[T]he constitutional amendment allowing an annual salary of not to exceed four thousand, eight hundred dollars ($4,800) per year and a per diem allowance of not to exceed twelve dollars ($12) per day for the first one hundred and twenty (120) days only of each session of the Legislature as the maximum compensation for members of the Legislature and limiting the regular session to one hundred and forty (140) days." The 1975 amendment increased legislators' salary to its current level and the 1991 amendment added language regarding the authority of the Texas Ethics Commission.

The Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. M-104 (1967), opined that: "[The 1960 amendment to this section provided] in addition to per diem and traveling expenses an annual salary for members of the Legislature, thus recognizing that official duties of members of the Legislature are performed throughout the year and are not limited to duties performed while the Legislature is in session." And, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. M-408 (1969), he opined that: "[W]e are of the opinion that there exists no constitutional inhibition as to the use of state funds and their application to group sickness and accident policy premium payments for legislators themselves. . . . We do not interpret such a benefit as additional 'salary', 'per diem' or 'mileage', as those terms are used in Article III, Section 24 of the Constitution of Texas." Finally, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. DM-23 (1991), he opined that: "Although the 1960 and 1975 amendments to article III, section 24, dispensed with the presumption that interim expenses were personal expenses, the amendment [sic] did not alter the conclusion that the constitution prohibits payment of personal expenses or compensation to members of the legislature in addition to the amounts provided for in that section."

Based on the foregoing, a substantial question exists regarding the constitutionality under this section of the significant and preferential retirement benefits currently provided to members of the Legislature. Among other material differences, a legislator's pension payments are calculated based on the current salary of full-time state district judges while the pension payments of an ordinary state government worker are calculated based on the worker's personal salary history.

Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

  • Walker v. Baker, 196 S.W.2d 324, 329-30 (Tex. 1946) ("[I]f the Senate has the power to convene at will [], it has the power to have as many sessions as it elects; in fact, it could remain in continuous session for the purpose of passing on the Governor's appointments; but a member could not collect any pay for his attendance, because he would not be attending a session of the Legislature. . . . This per diem, multiplied by the number of days the Legislature remains in regular or called session, is the entire compensation a member is entitled to receive, and for it he must attend the legislative sessions and perform all the other duties of his office each biennium.")
  • Spears v. Sheppard, 150 S.W.2d 769, 770 (Tex. 1941) ("Article III, Section 24, [] provides, in part . . . . This provision of the Constitution definitely fixes the pay of a member of the Legislature at 'a per diem of not exceeding $10.00 per day for the first 120 days of each session,' and does not make the right to such per diem dependent upon actual attendance on the sessions of the Legislature. All that is required is that the Legislature be in session and that the claimant be a member thereof. This provision of the Constitution was doubtless so drawn because, as is well known, much of the work of the Legislature is performed in committee meetings during recess periods.")
  • Terrell v. King, 14 S.W.2d 786, 791 (Tex. 1929) ("By the foregoing article the Legislature is forbidden to provide any greater compensation for the services of the members of the Legislature than the stated per diem and mileage. Save as measured by duration of sessions, regular or called, no warrant can be found in the Constitution for the payment of per diem compensation to members of the Legislature. . . . So much of the resolution is therefore in contravention of section 24 of article 3 as undertakes to provide that the members of the committee from the House and Senate shall receive as compensation the sum of ten dollars per day for each day they serve.")

Library Resources

Online Resources