Arizona lawmaker proposes pay raise and term limits to attract candidates

• Rep. Stacey Travers proposes pay raise for Arizona legislators • Lawmakers’ salaries have not increased since 1998 • Arizona lawmakers struggle to make ends meet on $24,000 annual salary

Rep. Stacey Travers thinks she’s found a way to convince Arizonans to approve the first pay raise for legislators since 1998: Impose true — and enforceable — term limits so that lawmakers would no longer be able to remain in office forever.

And that is drawing opposition from one long-term Republican lawmaker who wants higher salaries — even more than what the Phoenix Democrat is proposing — and argues it makes no sense to tell Arizonans they can’t vote for who they like.

At the heart of Travers’s proposal is her belief that the current $ 24,000-a-year salary is insufficient to attract qualified c