Critics of a pay raise for North Dakota lawmakers say they believe any compensation increase should be endorsed by the state's voters rather than controlled by legislators themselves.

Mandan attorney John Gosbee predicted Wednesday that North Dakotans will blanch at a proposed 12 percent increase in legislators' pay during sessions, and the rising cost of maintaining their health insurance benefits.

Lawmakers are paid $875 a week - $125 a day, seven days a week - when the Legislature is in session. The Senate Appropriations Committee is considering a bill to increase the daily session rate to $140, or $980 weekly.

The insurance benefit is now worth $554 monthly, and its cost is scheduled to rise to $658 monthly during the state's next two-year budget period. Most legislators sign up for the plan, which is the same benefit that North Dakota's full-time state government workers have.

During an Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Gosbee and Lorne Campbell, of Bismarck, said legislators should put measures to raise their own pay on the ballot and let North Dakotans judge them.

"If you feel you need a raise, you deserve a raise, you present it to the voters. They'll give it to you," Campbell said. "It doesn't make you guys look good, even if you do deserve it, when you vote for it yourselves."

Gosbee, who described himself as a "member of the working poor," suggested that lawmakers either drop their participation in the state employee health plan or agree to provide it to any North Dakotan who has a job. The committee did not immediately act on those recommendations.

Legislators' health insurance benefit "is utterly beyond the dreams of most people in North Dakota," Gosbee said. "I think it's a shame that the Legislature votes that for itself so quietly."

Sen. Raymon Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said legislators have been included in the state government health plan since 1971.

"If we, as a Legislature, decided, let's eliminate the health insurance, let's hold down the pay increase, how do you reconcile having a citizen Legislature when the only people who could serve would be those who could afford to serve?" Holmberg asked.

Sen. Bill Bowman, R-Bowman, said many lawmakers have substantial expenses. His rural, western district extends from just south of Williston to the South Dakota border, which means long drives and many long-distance phone calls, Bowman said.

"Our costs are extremely high to represent the people," Bowman said. "I don't think anyone has been greedy in compensation for the legislative process."

When his constituents learn about his legislative pay, they are surprised that it is so low, Bowman said.

"They say, 'How in the world would you ever go down there for that kind of money?' And I said, 'Because we're just like you are,'" Bowman said.

Along with an increase in the daily session pay of lawmakers, the legislation would bump lawmakers' compensation for attending interim committee meetings from $100 to $125 daily.

The increase would take effect Aug. 1, while the higher session pay rate would kick in Dec. 1, 2008. The measure would cost taxpayers $379,547 over two years.