Want to earn $100K a year for 50 days of work? Get elected to Pennsylvania’s legislature.

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s lawmakers left the state Capitol last month without finishing their main job: completing a balanced budget.

They ultimately approved the general spending plan but have yet to complete the legislation needed for some funding increases or new initiatives.

For now, lawmakers continue to enjoy their more than 10-week summer vacation and aren’t scheduled to return to the state Capitol until September. They’ll take another long recess in the winter.

While the state Capitol building is empty of legislators, The Inquirer analyzed the many perks of being a legislator in Pennsylvania, how it compares with other states — and why changes are hard to come by.

All 253 members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have a starting salary of more than $100,000 this year. It’s the first time legislators’ pay has topped six figures. Members of leadership make more than $150,000.

The starting salary for lawmakers is nearly double that of the average $54,241 private-sector salary for Pennsylvanians.

Pennsylvania has the third-highest paid state legislature, behind California and New York. In 2022, California’s lawmakers had a $119,702 starting salary, and New York had a $110,000 starting salary, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Both states have higher costs of living.

The rest of the year, lawmakers are expected to be working from their district offices and offering constituent services. However, no one is keeping track. (Their offices are staffed and open year-round to help constituents.)

Pennsylvania legislators are allowed to moonlight and have other jobs in addition to their employment as a lawmaker. Many legislators who are lawyers maintain partner or associate status at law firms around the state, such as Rudolph Clarke in Montgomery County.

In addition, they’re allowed to accept an unlimited amount of gifts from nonprofits, lobbyists, businesses, and others. However, they’re supposed to report gifts worth more than $250 or hospitality of more than $650 as part of their annual statements of interest.

Good-government advocates such as Rabbi Michael Pollack from MarchOnHarrisburg have been pushing for years to ban gifts to lawmakers, and hope they are able to pass it this year.

“We hear all the time from lawmakers, ‘Gifts don’t affect the way I vote, nobody could ever influence me,’” Pollack said. “It’s fascinating that the first human beings in history who have no capacity for corruption all work together in the same building.”

Pennsylvania has the largest full-time legislature in the country, with 203 state representatives and 50 senators. Illinois, a state similar in population with a full-time legislature, has 118 state representatives and 59 senators.

New Hampshire has the largest state legislature in the country with 424 total members. But the salary is only $100, plus as much as a $23,000 stipend.

“Harrisburg needs an enema, and we need to reset,” said Eric Epstein, the director of government accountability group Rock the Capital. “It’s very difficult to pass laws for an average citizen when you’re living a gilded lifestyle.”

Pennsylvania’s lawmakers come to Harrisburg only a few times a month to actually vote on bills. The state House is scheduled to meet for only 45 days total this year, and the state Senate is scheduled to meet for 52, meaning that neither will be in Harrisburg for two months out of the year.

That’s much fewer days of work than most full-time workers, who are on the job 20 to 23 days a month, or 240 days a year.

However, they sometimes will meet on non-session days with their legislative committees, and members may tour the state during recesses to collect information about issues.

Pennsylvania is considered one of 10 states with a full-time legislature.

“I wish they would function as a full-time legislature,” Pollack said. “There is no shortage of problems that have been backed up and backed up, and we fail session after session to address them.”

States with part-time legislatures have limits on how long they can meet each year. Most meet only for the first few months of each year. Nearby part-time legislatures have session limits: New Jersey is limited to 40 sessions a year, and Maryland meets for only 90 days.

In addition to their salary, lawmakers are eligible to be reimbursed for as much as $181 a day every time they go to Harrisburg. This per diem — which means “by the day” — is supposed to go toward food and lodging; some drive hundreds of miles and from hours away to come to the state Capitol. It does not include mileage, for which they are also eligible for reimbursement.

Most states offer per diems for lawmakers, depending on how close they live to the state Capitol. Alaska offers the highest per diem, $307 per day.

In theory, having more lawmakers means citizens have more of a voice in Harrisburg.

Each state representative represents about 60,000 people. Add in the Senate, and every 51,000 Pennsylvania residents is represented by a legislator in Harrisburg.

This is much more than in California, where each of the 80 state representatives represents nearly 500,000 people. Or Illinois, where each of its 118 state representatives represents 102,000 people.

Some states have larger legislatures, or have a smaller number of residents per lawmaker.

For any of this to change, lawmakers would need to pass the reforms themselves.

Both Pollack and Epstein have been trying to alter the culture in Harrisburg for years.

“There’s no incentive for the legislature to change the way it operates,” Epstein said.

For those who get elected and try to revamp things: “You’re not going to ascend the legislative ladder by taking the ethical or reform track. You’ll immediately get derailed,” Epstein added.