Lawmakers in Senate introduce the usual bid for a salary increase

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The three senators who sponsored legislation to hike the annual salaries of the governor and lieutenant governor have introduced a new bill to increase the annual compensation for lawmakers by $15,000 a year — to be effective in the next Legislature, which is two years away.

Local law states that no Legislature may raise its own compensation, but a Legislature may raise the compensation of succeeding Legislatures.

On Tuesday this week Sens. Soliai Tuipine Fuimaono, Alo Paul Stevenson and Satele Aliita’i Lili’o, introduced legislation to increase the annual salaries of the Senate President and House Speaker from $30,000 to $45,000.

Additionally, the legislation intends to hike the salary of other members of the Fono from $25,000 to $40,000 as well providing an increase in pay for the Swains Island Delegate from $20,000 to $35,000.

Pursuant to local law, the proposed pay increases would become effective the first-day of the next Legislature after it is passed. In this case, the 38th Legislature — two years away.

This legislation along with the bill to increase the salaries of the governor and lt. governor are with the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which is expected to hold hearings in the future when the Fono returns in July for the 2nd Regular Session of the 37th Legislature.  The current, First Regular Session ends, at the close of business today.

After Samoa News reported on the bill to raise the governor and lt. governor’s salaries, several social media comments as well as emails to the newsroom noted that tax payers should be expecting soon, a bill to increase salaries of lawmakers — who are only in session 90 days of a year.

“We all know where this is heading. Next the Fono will ask for pay raises for their part time jobs,” said one blunt commenter. “Let’s see where the L&T Administration stands on this.”

Other social media postings and comments call for lawmakers to fix the hospital first while others argued that increasing pay for the two executive branch leaders is not a priority as there many ASG workers impacted by the governor’s roll-back of salary increases — referring to the governor’s Feb. 5th memorandum, which orders the roll-back of pay adjustments made without justification in the budget as well as converting contract workers to career service employees without going through the merit process — since Jan. 1, 2019 to the present.

BACKGROUND

The last unsuccessful legislative effort to hike salaries of lawmakers was in January 2019, the start of the 36th Legislature, through a bill sponsored by Rep. Faimealelei Anthony Allen. That bill looked to increase salaries for lawmaker by $10,000 annually.

Another unsuccessful move was made in 2016, through a House bill, also sponsored by Faimealelei, and at that time it was a $20,000 annual raise.

However, the bill was undermined by ‘passionate’ public protest at the time by a group calling themselves United Citizens of American Samoa.

They not only held peaceful demonstrations across the street from the Fono compound in Fagatogo but also circulated an online petition against the raise, citing the Territory’s trying economic times.