State lawmakers in Washington will get a 14% raise over the next two years, pushing their annual pay above $70,000, under a recommendation adopted Thursday by a citizen salary-setting panel.
Most legislators currently earn $61,997 annually. They’d receive a 7% increase on July 1, 2025, bringing their pay to $66,411 and another 7% a year later, upping their salaries to $71,126.
Statewide executives and judges will get wage hikes too, though increases settled on by the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials are not quite as hefty.
Washington’s nine executives — governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, superintendent of public instruction, insurance commissioner, treasurer and commissioner of public lands — would get a 3% cost of living adjustment next July and another 2% on July 1, 2026. Judges, including state Supreme Court justices, would receive boosts of 4% in July and 3% a year later.
Commissioners made clear they didn’t think pay for legislators had kept pace with the growing duties of the elected position and rising costs of living.