PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island's part-time state lawmakers received 2.1-percent raises on July 1, an increase that brings the annual pay for all but two members of the General Assembly to $14,947, up from $14,640.
The exceptions are the House speaker and the Senate president, who receive twice the pay of their 111 colleagues. Their new salaries: $29,894.
The pay for lawmakers went up, without a vote, under a provision in the state Constitution that calls for their pay to be adjusted annually "based on changes in the cost of living, as determined by the United States government during a 12-month period ending in the immediately preceding year."
At least 40 lawmakers rejected last year's 3.2-percent raise. There was no word late Friday afternoon on whether any have rejected this year's increase.