The new majority leader in the Iowa House is promising to push for a pay increase for state legislators.
Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton acknowledges it is not political popular to raise lawmakers’ pay. “But here’s what’s going to happen if we do not do this there are going to be two qualifiers to serve in the legislature: Are you retired and are you wealthy? Nothing wrong with retired people, nothing wrong with wealthy individuals, but that is going to be the candidate pool if we continue to do it the way we are doing it,” Kaufmann said this morning during his speech on the 2026 legislative session’s opening day.
The current salary for an Iowa legislator was set 18 years ago. “$25,000 is simply not enough money for a family to serve and I think it’s in our best interest for us to have families, on both sides of the aisle, serving in the legislature,” Kaufmann said.
A bill introduced in the House in 2024 would have raised the base salaries for House and Senate members to $35,000 a year and then link future increases to the negotiated pay hikes for state employees represented by a union. The six lawmakers who have leadership roles in the House and Senate are currently paid a salary of $37,500 a year. The other 144 legislators are being paid that $25,000 base salary.
Most legislators also get over $17,000 in expense payments each year to cover things like mileage and renting hotel rooms or apartments in Des Moines during the legislative session. Polk County lawmakers get less since they have homes near the Capitol.
(This post has been updated to reflect previous proposal on pay was introduced i 2024, not 2025.)