BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana House on Friday approved a proposal to more than double legislators' pay, an idea that has sparked howls of anger from talk radio callers, editorialists and voters.

The proposed increase from $16,800 to $37,500 would give Louisiana's lawmakers the highest base pay among Southern legislatures and the 14th highest in the country, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said he opposes the measure but would not veto it.

House members did not debate the bill after listening to a speech in support from Speaker Jim Tucker, who noted that lawmakers' salaries have not changed in nearly three decades. He acknowledged that legislators have come under pressure to reject the raise, but insisted that, without a pay raise, the Legislature would become a bastion of wealth, where only rich people can afford to serve.

"This is probably the most politically contentious bill that we will all see in our political careers, because it is very difficult to deal with compensation for oneself," said Tucker, R-Terrytown. "It is so difficult that the Legislature has not tried to deal with this seriously since 1980."

The 56-43 vote sends the measure back to the Senate, which approved a more generous pay raise that would have given Louisiana lawmakers the eighth-highest legislative base pay in the nation.

If the Senate approves the House version, public pressure would then turn on Jindal, who said he would allow it to go into law without his signature. Jindal said he was afraid a veto would trigger a backlash from lawmakers, who could vote down some of the governor's priority bills.

"One thing is for sure, I will not bail them out on this and do their job for them," Jindal said in a statement released from his press office. "I will not veto this as it is very clear to everyone that the result would be a grinding halt to the tremendous reforms and progress our state is making. I will give them no excuse to stop doing the people's business, and I will not allow the momentum of our state to stop over this or anything else."

Tucker has denied that he threatened the governor with a shutdown if Jindal vetoed the pay raise bill.

House members approved an amendment that changed the Senate's version in two key ways:

--Lower the proposed new salaries from $50,700 to $37,500, a figure taken from 2003 recommendations from the Compensation Review Commission, a group created by the Legislature to suggest appropriate levels of official pay.

--Tie future pay raises to the inflation rate. The Senate version would have tied the salary to members of Congress, so state lawmakers' future pay adjustments would correspond to pay raises given to members of the U.S. House and Senate.

Lawmakers who oppose the pay raise can choose to keep their salaries at their current rate, by filling out a form by Tuesday.