Moving onwards and upwards to Senate, Congress

Five years after the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the controversial pay raise in the middle of the night, more than half of the 119 state representatives who voted in favor of the bill are still serving in state government or higher.

In the 2006 election following the pay raise, 45 of those who voted for the pay raise lost their seats, and since then 14 more have given up their seats through retirement or lost elections. But five years after the pay raise, 59 representatives still retain their House seats. Two more have gone on to seats in the state Senate: Sen. Daylin Leach (D – Delaware), whose term expires in 2012, and Sen. David Argall (R – Berks) who is now competing with U.S. Rep. Tim Holden (D) for the 17th Congressional seat. State Rep. James Wansacz (D – Lackawanna) has entered the state Senate race this year.

Though repealed in November 2005, the pay raises would have increased lawmakers’ salaries – executive, legislative, and judicial alike – from 16 to 54 percent, based on seniority, rank, title and leadership.

And five years later, those who voted for it are still living on the taxpayer’s dime.

Does it matter? Gary Tuma, spokesperson for Gov. Ed Rendell, said “no.”

“The pay raise has been repealed so I don’t think any action is necessary there and he’s said he’s in favor of a constitutional convention, which could look at a variety of issues, legislative compensation being one of them. People throw out other ideas, we could have a constitutional convention and we could debate all of those ideas.”

But the potential for legislators to pass another pay raise remains, and Mr. Tuma agreed nothing in the current structure would prevent its passage.

Tuesday, Democracy Rising PA, RockTheCapital.org and the Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, held a news conference at the state Capitol, marking the anniversary of the pay raise anniversary, while Gov. Ed Rendell decided to sign the budget at a nearby Mechanicsburg elementary school. Tim Potts, president and co-founder of Democracy Rising PA, said the solution to the pay raise, and the state Supreme Court’s sanction, is a constitutional convention.

“A great deal has changed among the citizens of Pennsylvania. Four years ago, 24 percent of Pennsylvania voters said we needed a constitutional convention to fix our government. As of January, 72 percent. They believe the legislature is incapable of reforming themselves,” said Mr. Potts. “That’s what we’re going to have to have. We’re lucky we have a gubernatorial election this year and we will be able to hold those candidates accountable for keeping these issues alive, and weighing out how they’re going to get us to that convention. We can actually make the change the legislature refuses to make.”

Eric Epstein of RockTheCapital.org suggested a special session on ethics as the best way to prevent the pay raise from happening again.

“The next governor should revisit Sen. Piccola’s request for a special session on ethics and integrity,” said Mr. Epstein. “However, the best way to deal with a bloated body is to starve it. The next governor should eliminate WAMs, PSAs and non-lapsing accounts and deprive legislators of their political nourishment.”

WAMs, or Walking Around Money, are usually community or economic development grants, $65.5 million of which were added back into the 2010-2011 “bare bones” budget and are often used by politicians to curry favor with local support. RockTheCapital.org also released a report Tuesday identifying state House and Senate members who signed up for the “unvouchered expenses,” or the immediate pay raise.

The report states 131 House members and 27 Senators signed up for the “unvouchered expenses,” received between July 7 and November 16, 2005. Payments ranged from $1,288 to $14,553.32, before taxes.

“To date, 53 former and current House members and seven Senators have refused to return ‘unvouchered expenses’ or donated the unconstitutional income to charities,” the release from RockTheCapital.org reads. “In either instance, the lawmakers have benefitted through increased wages, “pension bounces”, or job promotions. In the Senate, at least two sitting lawmakers owe the IRS imputed interest based on their repayment schedule.” (Read full report)

Until either a constitutional convention or an ethics session is called, however, Pennsylvanians can still voice their opinion in November’s elections, as more representatives stay in office or move up the food chain.

“There’s always an opportunity to vote somebody out of office,” Mr. Potts said. “We have never been among [those] who say throw them all out, but you look at the lack of progress over the past five years. Throwing them all out and starting all over seems like the conclusion to reach. The legislature is the only place that can fix what’s wrong with our government and they’re refusing to do it. What do they expect citizens are going to do?”

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