Setting An Example: Legislative Pay Raise Next Week

From the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Should our elected representatives show some restraint, or do they deserve their raise?

Legislative pay cut in Florida won't fly in Pennsylvania
By Eric Heyl TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Sunday, November 23, 2008

The hogs of Harrisburg appear to be recession-proof.

The nation is experiencing its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Pennsylvania is facing a potential deficit of as much as $2 billion, leading Gov. Ed Rendell to slash spending on many programs and hint strongly that a tax hike is in the offing.

Amid this hurricane-force economic storm, your state legislators should be quickly boarding up some windows. Instead, they are breaking out the tanning lotion while cheerfully whistling "Happy Days Are Here Again."

On Dec. 1, General Assembly members are scheduled to receive their annual cost-of-living adjustment. Their base salaries will jump 2.8 percent to $78,315; those in leadership positions will make as much as $122,000.

That's a bit more than most families bring in annually in the Keystone State. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics, the median household income in Pennsylvania is $43,714.

State lawmakers never have been particularly sensitive to the dramatic income disparity that exists between them and the people they are elected to pickpocket -- er, I mean represent.

But given the state's dwindling coffers, state Senate President Pro Tempore and Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, suggested Thursday that lawmakers should consider forgoing this year's pay increase.

Expect that to happen when pigs fly. And last time I checked, Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Lackawanna, wasn't sporting a pair of wings.

Mellow conveyed a counterpoint to Scarnati's proposal that almost certainly will prevail in any legislative debate over the raises. He defended the increase as "modest and the right thing to do."

On Friday, Mellow told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "Our members have the same family responsibilities as others."

So do state legislators in Florida. Yet in June, those lawmakers did something that probably left their Pennsylvania counterparts aghast and apoplectic over the terrible example they set.

With the Sunshine State facing a $3 billion revenue shortfall, lawmakers not only eschewed a raise -- they reduced their salaries by 5 percent.

That action is even more impressive when you consider that Florida legislators make about $31,000 annually -- less than half of what your average Pennsylvania porker takes home.

I wanted to ask Mellow why the family needs of Pennsylvania lawmakers seem to be substantially greater than those of their Florida brethren, but calls to his office were not immediately returned Friday.

Perhaps he was getting a jump on his Christmas shopping.

From his remarks, however, Mellow obviously believes state lawmakers should continue indulging their insatiable appetites at the public trough regardless of whether the public can afford it.

Is he right? In a pig's eye.