Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Is your lawmaker worth a pay boost to $90,000-plus?
The Journal News Editorial
"The Legislature today is back for one day and one ostensible purpose; to boost the base pay for the part-time positions, from a present-day $79,000 to anywhere from $90,000 to $96,000; those in leadership positions would gain much more. Lawmakers have been without a raise since 1999, when they used another after-election session to claim a 38 percent spoil; this was in exchange - some societies would just call it tribute - for something Gov. Pataki wanted: charter schools.
That quid pro quo bordered on the obscene: Part-time jobs aren't supposed to pay full-time wages, not when taxpayers are footing the bill, including a vast majority earning substantially less. The new pay grab is worse because the Legislature is worse: Since 2000, its track record consists of runaway debt, unchecked spending, token reforms, worst-in-the-nation property taxes, and a business and economic climate that has residents and business fleeing. A major New York University Law School/Brennan Center study in 2004 called ours the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation. The moniker has hardly changed since."
A simple 'NO" would have sufficed ...... for the rest of this rant........ click here .............andy
"The Legislature today is back for one day and one ostensible purpose; to boost the base pay for the part-time positions, from a present-day $79,000 to anywhere from $90,000 to $96,000; those in leadership positions would gain much more. Lawmakers have been without a raise since 1999, when they used another after-election session to claim a 38 percent spoil; this was in exchange - some societies would just call it tribute - for something Gov. Pataki wanted: charter schools.
That quid pro quo bordered on the obscene: Part-time jobs aren't supposed to pay full-time wages, not when taxpayers are footing the bill, including a vast majority earning substantially less. The new pay grab is worse because the Legislature is worse: Since 2000, its track record consists of runaway debt, unchecked spending, token reforms, worst-in-the-nation property taxes, and a business and economic climate that has residents and business fleeing. A major New York University Law School/Brennan Center study in 2004 called ours the most dysfunctional legislature in the nation. The moniker has hardly changed since."
A simple 'NO" would have sufficed ...... for the rest of this rant........ click here .............andy
