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State representative provides insight

4 min read

Curious about his vote on the legislative pay raise, I decided to call my state representative, Harry J. DePhew, to find out his rationale for supporting the controversial measure. His office manager answered the phone, as usual, and got hold of DePhew, who called me back on his taxpayer-subsidized cell phone. It was a Wednesday and he was in transit in his taxpayer-subsidized luxury car on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which often seems to be the case.

We had a clear connection, so I asked, “Rep. DePhew, I read where you said the $11,000 pay raise is justified, and that legislators deserve $81,0000 a year because they work so hard. C’mon, level with me, isn’t yours really just a part-time job?”

“No way,” snapped DePhew. “Hey, it’s a full-time job just keeping my spending secret. Then every two years I’ve got to figure out a way to keep any legitimate opponent off the ballot. Then I’ve got to blame the media for bias when the questions get too tough, or when they write something truthful that makes me look bad. You never know when they’re going to pull one of those.”

“But didn’t I just see you on cable television, on the Pennsylvania Cable Network, giving some pithy speech from the House floor about how members on the other side of the aisle were wrongly bottling up debate on some important issue? Don’t you think the pay raise should have been debated, too?”

“That would have been nice, but we ran out of time,” noted DePhew. “Plus, I had to get up early the next day to get to my second job. I also wanted to finish reading my 55th historical novel of the year so far.”

“But I get your newsletter all the time, the one you send out at taxpayers’ expense, and where you ask constituents how they stand on the big issues of the day, like tax reform and hunting license fees. How come you didn’t ask if they favored a pay raise that will forever give the 203 members of the Pennsylvania House one-half of the salary of each of the nation’s 435 congressmen?”

“We ran out of space,” replied DePhew, who added, “You know, it’s biased questions like that that turn people off to the media. How come you’re not asking me about all the money I bring back to my district?”

“Well, now that you mention it, that’s been on my mind, too. Isn’t it true that most of the time, if not all of the time, that state grant money comes into the county because some agency applies for it? They do all the application work, and the awards are usually based on an eligibility formula that have nothing to do with you or your influence. But you get first crack at making the announcement, so voters think that you did all the heavy lifting, right?”

“What’s wrong with that?” snapped DePhew. “Again, you’re showing your bias against me. How come you’re not asking me about all the constituent services that my office provides? We do lots of good stuff there.”

“I was getting to that. I have your latest newsletter right in front of me. Let’s see, your office can help people with car registrations, title transfers, driver’s license applications, birth certificates, voter registrations, food stamps and medical assistance. Aren’t those things that most people either do for themselves or things where they can call the appropriate agency to get assistance?”

“Off the record, yeah, but please don’t tell anybody that,” begged DePhew. “Some things are better left unsaid. Plus, we wouldn’t want to confuse people too much. But let me say this: I earn my money here in Harrisburg. You want proof? I’ve held three Prosperity Summits in the last decade, trying to bring attention to the plight of poor people in the county.”

“Yes, you have. But most of that discussion comes from social service employees whose solution consists of getting more state and federal money for themselves to tackle the problem. Wouldn’t the best way to solve poverty be getting jobs for people? How many more Prosperity Summits will you need to have?”

Static suddenly started to come across the phone line.

“My battery’s going dead. Call me back at home later, on my taxpayer-subsidized long-distance phone line,” said DePhew, who with a hearty laugh added, “But don’t ask me to see that bill, ’cause I don’t have to show it to you! We’re still exempt from the open records law!”

Paul Sunyak is editorial page editor of the Herald-Standard. He can be reached at (724) 439-7577 or psunyak@heraldstandard.com

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