The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. [U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 6]
The Virginia Plan proposed that members of Congress “receive liberal stipends” as compensation for their public service, but not all delegates believed that senators ought to be paid for their service.
On June 26, 1787, Charles Pinckney of South Carolina proposed that senators should serve without compensation so as to ensure that only wealthy individuals would serve. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania also argued against paying senators, warning that the public might suspect the delegates of having "carved out places" for themselves since they were likely candidates to become senators. When put to a vote, Pinckney’s proposal nearly passed, with five states in favor and six opposed. The delegates then decided by a vote of 10 to 1 to compensate members of Congress.
The Convention next turned to the question of who would pay members of Congress. Several delegates suggested that individual states should pay their senators. James Madison of Virginia objected, stating this would make senators too dependent on their states and compromise the Senate’s ability to serve national as well as state interests. It also would subvert the plan for a six-year term, he argued, as states could in effect recall senators by withholding their pay. The motion failed by a 5 to 6 vote and the delegates set the issue aside.
When delegates returned to the question of compensation in August, Maryland’s Luther Martin again raised the question of states compensating their senators, but in the end, delegates who hoped that the Senate would possess a degree of independence from the states prevailed. On August 14 the delegates voted 9 to 2 to pay senators out of the national treasury. They left it to the new Congress to decide how much to pay senators.
