There's an honest argument on both sides here. Paying legislators can open the citizen-legislature to people who aren't independently wealthy or retired — a fairness point. The counterargument is that an unpaid, part-time legislature stays closer to ordinary life and resists becoming a career class. The amendment's guardrail is real: an independent commission sets the pay, not the legislators themselves, and it is pegged to what a typical household earns rather than a number lawmakers pick. The split votes show this is no slam dunk. Decide it on whether you think modest pay broadens the bench or professionalizes a body better kept amateur.
"The labourer is worthy of his hire."
— Luke 10:7 (KJV)