CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina state lawmakers will return to Raleigh Wednesday for only the second time in two years, but it's not because they aren't doing their jobs.
Did you know that North Carolina state lawmakers aren't full-time employees?
Let's connect the dots.
If you get elected to state office, don't think you're going to be rolling in the dough. North Carolina House and Senate lawmakers only make a base salary that's just under $14,000 per year.
Their $13,951 annual salary is one of the lowest for state officials in the country.
Because of that, most lawmakers have other jobs. Take House Speaker Tim Moore, for example. Moore, who is from Cleveland County, runs his own law firm out of Kings Mountain.
Why the low salary? One of the reasons is that the General Assembly only meets once a year. It's not like Congress, where lawmakers are required to be in Washington nearly every month.
Lawmakers meet in Raleigh during the month of January right after they get elected and they usually don't meet again until May of the following year.
Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.
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