comment: >
  
  Yep. For a lot of the state legislators I know here in AZ it's a second job they work concurrent with their main one. One of the representatives in my old House district sometimes heads straight from a full day's work at the legislature to a night shift as an EMT.
context: It's because they can't afford to run or live off the income.    Most local and town government elected positions, which would be stepping stones to state legislatures and beyond, are part time and pay little to nothing which requires you to hold a full time job on the side.    I would love the opportunity to help run my community, but I can't afford it.    This opens the door to the already rich, or... concessions to donors who are paying for their vote.    It doesn't help that we as a society have been brainwashed to believe politicians are overpaid, so we vote against any politician who supports pay raises, which leaves us with those who don't need the money in charge. >
  
  Texas' state legislature meets every other year from early January to late May. Pay for a full two year term in the legislature is $45,000 ($22,500/yr).
  That's not a living wage, especially with the need to live in your district while also spending six months every two years in Austin. At the same time, good luck leaving your day job for six months every other year to go serve in the legislature. 
  It's basically a system designed to make it impossible for a normal person to serve in the legislature, even if they could somehow get elected. >
  
  
  Texas' state legislature meets every other year from early January to late May. Pay for a full two year term in the legislature is $45,000 ($22,500/yr).
  
  Where are you getting this number? I'm seeing it come up here as median House chamber salary, but that's for staffers and not members. NCSL has base legislative pay for Texas at an even lower $7.2k a term, although the $221/day per-diem does bring that up to a bit under $30k (assuming no special sessions in that 2 year period and that the per-diem isn't paid for weekends).
  But at least their mileage reimbursement clause has a separate line for aircraft fuel. Lol. >
  
  Ah, I Googled in a hurry and may have misinterpreted. My bad, thanks for the correction. 
  The overall point still stands - hell, even worse, I'm not sure I'd be willing to go to Austin and listen to our political leaders run their mouths off for six months at a mere $7,200. >
  
  From column:
  Last November, America elected its first Gen Z member of Congress: 25-year-old Maxwell Frost of Florida. Frost is a natural on social media, and his presence in the halls of power makes Congress feel a bit more relatable for Americans in my age group. 
  Recently, the congressman-elect struck a nerve on Twitter when he shared his trouble finding an apartment in D.C. due to his accumulated debt and a poor credit score. That’s relatable, too. 
  About five years ago, I sat in my college dorm room and heard President Obama tell the nation that if we were disappointed in our elected officials, we should “grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office” ourselves. I did just that and defeated an opponent who had been in office for longer than I had been alive.  
  Nearly every week, I get a call from a young person who is thinking about taking the same leap of faith I did. I share the story of how I hired my college roommate as my campaign manager, and how we helped break a tie between parties in the state senate. I tell them that I had the chance to enact free community college, and today thousands of students are pursuing a degree that they otherwise would not have been able to afford. I talk about fighting to lower housing costs as the only renter in the senate, and writing a new law to electrify school buses, remembering the diesel exhaust from the school bus I rode not too long ago. 
  But when young candidates ask me how to afford a campaign, I don’t have any good answers.
  I won because of Connecticut’s public financing system that puts 22-year-old candidates on an equal playing field with 22-year incumbents. But most states don’t publicly finance their elections, meaning candidates turn to their personal bank accounts or wealthy networks in order to afford television ads, lawn signs, campaign staff and the myriad of other expenses that come with running a successful campaign. Those expenses lock too many people my age out of office.  
  Our country needs young policymakers. Gen Z lawmakers know what it feels like to participate in a school shooter drill, so we fight with urgency for stronger gun regulations. We know how difficult it is to afford a degree in the 21st century, so we push for student debt relief. But most young people can’t afford to run for office, and almost none can afford to win. >
  
  The problem is that wealth in our society is like a piñata. We cracked it open in the 50s, and everyone rushed it and took all they could. Now, new generations are showing up trying to collect some but a bunch of boomers are standing on the side with their buckets of candy telling the newcomers they should have worked harder like they did. 
  Wealth is not unlimited and people hoarding it keeps the rest of us from being able to obtain it. >
  
  Yes, the amount of boomer stories about “I started this mega company out of a van” etc. are always around. Try that now and if ton don’t get immediately squashed by an existing firm the city will probably fine you for not having the proper premises or something. >
  
  That’s sort of like some people picking up guitars and becoming rock stars, just a less extreme outlier. >
  
  now you need Disney to run promo and auto tune for you... >
  
  This is by design. They don’t want young people to VOTE let alone run for office. >
  
  It's not even just young people. They don't want average people running. That's why the system is designed such that corporate America has to purchase candidates via donations.
  What we need is a complete nationwide public campaign financing system that's fair, equal, and has no strings attached to policy stances or any other criteria. It should be completely abstracted away from the candidates.
  Don't ask me who would pay for it... or how. I don't know (maybe ask Connecticut?). But that's what we'd have if we want fair equal elections rather than a choice of candidates backed by corporate America rather than ordinary people. >
  
  If we implemented national campaign finance and election advertising rules, we wouldn’t have to pay for it. Elections cost a fucking fortune in this country, and most of it goes to ad buys. If we get campaign commercials off the airwaves (please dear god), people will have to elect politicians based on the issues and their platforms. We just need to make platform info readily available, and it can be largely summed up in a handout at the voting place. We could save ten billion dollars every election cycle (more on Presidential race years) by doing this. >
  
  So, the country that began by only allowing property owning white males to vote is continuing as designed? >
  
  I've been told I should run for something, both in-person and through an anonymous "recommend a friend to file" tool RunForSomething runs (which is a great org. for helping young first-time candidates get elected). Ignoring my other significant hesitations about the idea, the fundraising commitment necessary - as someone who has previously done campaign fundraising work - is daunting even for a schoolboard or city council race. 
  I've got a pretty sizable network (relative to a GenZ-er who has never been politically involved before) and I'm still not confident I'd be able to raise enough to keep parity with more financially-established candidates for schoolboard or council, let alone the state legislature. Sure, volunteers supporting you with their time can help close that gap somewhat, but it only goes so far. >
  
  That’s a super interesting site! Thanks for sharing. My (HCOL) state pays senators $43,000/yr with $45/day per diem. Would actually love to do something like that, but I’d need to make an additional 45-50k a year to bring me to my current income, which already barely covers my life after taxes, healthcare, 401k, mortgage, utilities, car, food, CCs, emergency fund, etc. I’m in a single income situation so I’d be fully doomed. >
  
  A good amount of red states pay their state representatives under 30K a year and some under 15K a year. This is entirely to prevent anyone but the independently wealthy from being able to afford to serve.
  -Source