Rennsylvania General Assembly's self-aggrandizing pay raise

[JackBingham,CPF]

Check this out.

http://www.pacleansweep.com/main.html

[Ruth]

:mad: You don't have to tell me. Rohrer's office is two doors down from my shop and I just want to go down there and shake him like a ragdoll.

[JackBingham,CPF]

There's a real push to vote all incumbents out of office. From our school boards, to our mayors, right up to our governor.

Here's another link about it.

http://www.wsba910.com/blog/blog/main.asp?id=50&Cat=Gary%20Sutton%20Blog

[JackBingham,CPF]

And yet another link.

http://www.whp580.com/cc-common/globalcontestfinder.html?contest=11090

[Dermot]

Jack

What were the pay scales and what are they now!!!! …………And how do they compare to the national job average………and how many of the jobs have tenure!!!!!

With public servents for many years in Ireland we had the attitude “Pay peanuts and we got Monkeys”………this all started to change about 15 years ago to bring public service pay scales more in line with not only Irish pay scales but International pay averages………well the I think most people know the results……….. from one of the poorest countries in the world to one of the wealthiest

Public Service pay is a real tricky one if you want your community to grow ……deal with it from the bottom up and it has little or no chance of working…………without the rewards to compensate people who are attracted to these positions there is little chance of getting quality…..

Deal with it from the top down by bench marking the positions on a commercial positioning and you create a whole new playing field you change the whole mind set as to how these jobs are viewed and attract a much more competent job seeker ……………..we now attract people into public service that a very short few years ago would not have even considered a position in the public sector….


Least you think it is perfect in Ireland it is not and we still have a long way to go………but the thing you note is that now a days is that most of our public servants are very competent people, in it to do a job, it is no longer about the position it is now about the job and how that job is done……..once again I caution we still have a long way to go but we are very much on the right track ……

Here you canlook at pay scales in the public sector in Ireland, all pay rates are in Euro€ http://www.impact.ie/scales/contents.htm

[Maryann]

The PA state legislature is now the highest paid in the US.

Our state constitution prohibits them from giving themselves a pay raise. So they passed a pay raise that will not go into effect until after the elections BUT until that time, they can collect the money in unvouchered expenses. In other words, submit travel expenses, office expenses, etc with NO receipts. The raise was from 16 to 34 % depending on their positions and what committees that they serve on. Absolutely amazing!

I don't think they counted on the backlash and now there is talk about repealing it. I know that I will not vote for any incumbants in the next election unless something changes.

How do other state management wages compare in Pennsylvania? Two years ago there was a freeze on wages because we were so broke, the state income tax was raised. Last year, there was a negative raise - most received about 1.5% but had to start contributing 10% of the cost of their health insurance (still a good deal). This year so far, no raise but the legislature seems to have enough money to give 16% on up to themselves in unvouchered expenses. At far as I'm concerned, they're a bunch of thieves.

[Bill Henry-]

I kinda like the way New Hampshire treats its legislators: we give ‘em only $100 per year (plus travel expenses). This way we only get people who are interested in public service rather than those who are after the the big bucks.

This pittance wage also keeps them wanting to get out of session quickly (and keeps the number of silly bills from being voted on) and return to their real jobs where they can get a feel of what’s really going on in the state.

Yeah, this is amateur politics at its best!

[BILL WARD]

jeeeez!!! you guys act like it hasnt all been done before......& wont happen again.

You ever hear of "me first"????

this simply ranks up there with "you already assessed(ie realestate) at 100%, so we'll just raise the amounts assessable" or the "lets 'us' invalidate the term limits that the people voted in, after all WE know whats best for them," right???

anyone have a problem with "professional" politicians feeding at the public tit for an entire lifetime...never actually having to have a real job in the real world???

what about all those juicy commities--the more commitees they're on the more $$$ they rake in(they dont actually have to be there/participate--just BE ON 'em--..
And what about all those buddy/buddy deals that somehow bring hope and prosperity to only those immediately involved in the 'business deals'...
NO ONE can be paid what most politicos get paid(not what I'd call a great living wage) and end up wealth/powerful without some fingers/hands in the pot!!!

how long ago, and who was it went runnning thru the streets looking for an honest man(ladies not to be excluded???).....didnt find one that time, either.....seem like those people who might actually make a difference wont/cant participate in sufficient quantity to actually make ANY difference.....


sour grapes??? disgusting reality, more like

[Dermot]

So Maryann how much do they get paid!!!!! and what do you think is a fair remuneration!!!!!!.......

Like I said pay peanuts and you get monkeys...

[Ruth]

Dermot,

They were getting $69k plus $125 a day if they are more than 50 miles from the capital and somewhere around $450 + for vehicle leases (a month). We have more than double the legislators in our state government than the state of California and a third of the population of CA.

Even at the pay they were getting it wasn't peanuts, it was way beyond the state averages.

I think they really pissed off people this time... and I don't think people will forget.

[JackBingham,CPF]

They now will get about $81,000.00, up from $69,000.00. In addition to their car allowance and per deim, they also get great health insurance for themselves and family. I'm not positive, but I believe that after they serve 6 years, their retirement and health benefits are vested for life.

In regards to what Ruth stated about CA, this is what I found.

CA Population: 33,871,648 ; 1st, 12/00

PA Population: 12,281,054 ; 6th, 12/00

PA State Representatives: 203
PA State Senators: 50

CA State Representatives: 80
CA State Senators: 40

Pennsylvania New Legislative Pay - $81,000. X 253 members = $20,493,000.00 @ about 1.66 per person per year

California Legislative Pay - $99,000. x 120 members = $11,880,000.00 @ .36 per person per year

But there is much more that concerns me and if I get time over the weekend I'll try to post some more info.

Jack

[framinzfun]

That whole pay raise deal still burns my bacon. They tried to explain it away by saying they tied the raise into federal raises, so that they don't vote for their raise anymore, it just locks in with the raise that the federal legislators get... That doesn't explain why it had to coincide with the 20% raise they got this year. And then there's the controversy of the legislators in leadership positions who mysteriously lost their leadership positions after they voted against the pay raise. I really don't think there's any way to stop this from happening... It truly takes a special type of person to even run for office, and usually honesty and character are not common traits in potential candidates. It's not even so much the pay that they get that's outrageous (although it really is) it's all the perks. I know they get fantastic health benefits, pension and expense accounts... All thanks to my weekly contributions to the state. And do they frankly do that much? Not really, since last year they approved "ghost voting" so they don't even have to show up anymore to vote!!!! Where do I sign up for 'ghost framing'?