Besides the ability to vote yourself a pay raise when the public's back is turned, being a Pennsylvania legislator carries with it a lot of extra perks beyond the standard $72,187 salary.
When you go to the polls today ask yourself the same question the Towanda Daily & Sunday Review posed in an April 25 editorial, "At an annual cost of nearly a half-billion dollars, is Pennsylvania getting the top-notch legislature it's paying for?"
That's not the cost of the entire state budget. That's just how much the state's 253 lawmakers are spending on themselves each year.
Perhaps Tim Potts, the founder of Harrisburg watchdog group Democracy Rising PA, said it best last month, "It's one of the first things legislators learn in freshman orientation: Maximize income, minimize expenses, leave rich."
Potts failed to add the words "and pretty young."
That's because Pennsylvania's lawmakers are completely vested in their pension program after only five years in office and are eligible to retire at age 50.
And although lawmakers repealed last year's pay raise after four months, the extra money they got in their base pay still counts to bolster the monthly checks they will receive for the rest of their lives once they leave office. There are no bills pending to prevent it.
Read more in my Daily Rant.
