Proposed bill would give members of legislature double pay raises

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — An Iredell County lawmaker is leading the charge on two controversial bills in the North Carolina House.

One of the bills affects his wallet and the other that affects your wallet.

Rep. Robert Brawley filed a bill that would give almost every member of the legislature more than double pay raise.

If approved, every member, excluding the speaker of the house and president pro-tem of the Senate, would receive an annual salary of $36,000.

Right now they receive nearly $14,000 per year.

"If we keep the legislative pay down, you only get the people who can afford to be down here without the legislative pay anyway, and the question I have to ask is, do you think rich people can represent the working people real well?" Brawley said.

The second bill filed by Brawley asks to raise property taxes by one cent for every $100.
        
The measure says the money collected on that tax will go directly to pay for teacher salaries.

Teacher pay has been a hot topic in North Carolina for the past few months.

Channel 9 spoke to Brawley on the phone about that bill.

He said he's not sure if it will pass, but he said he wanted to file the bill to help open the door for discussion to find news to help teacher pay.

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