Salaries may nearly double to $36,000 for Colorado lawmakers’ aides

by Andrew Kenney, CPR News

Ayah Ziyadeh, a former Colorado legislative aide, working at home in Aurora in 2021. (Courtesy of Ayah Ziyadeh.)

The employees who answer phones, research policy and manage calendars for lawmakers at the statehouse could see their yearly pay nearly double this year.

Under a proposal approved by top lawmakers, wages for legislative aides would increase from $16 to $20 an hour. The aides also would be allowed to work significantly more hours during the eight-month interim periods between sessions.

Taken together, that means that an aide working year-round could make up to $36,000, compared to about $21,000 before.

"It needs to be a job that a single parent can have and to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t think we’re quite there, but this is a huge step towards it,” said Logan Davis, a former aide who has been helping political workers organize over the last year.

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