Perzel should rescind pay raise
It would seem the unrepentant state House Speaker John M. Perzel has missed the point as to why many Pennsylvania residents are up in arms about the legislators’ self-given raises. It is not the raise itself; it is the size of the raise.
While comparisons to U.S. Congressmen, utility line and migrant workers’ salaries may be relevant, most of the people for whom these representatives and senators work have never seen and will never see a one-time 16 percent increase in rewards for their talents and services.
Most people, whether they work a 24/7 or a 40 hours work week, are grateful for a 3 to 5 percent, cost-of-living increase if they get any annual increase at all.
The necessity to do the raise-giving process late at night, without hearings or debate, sends a message to constituents that our legislators were not comfortable taking such action during daytime sessions, for all the world to see.
Public confidence of Pennsylvania legislators could receive a major boost if Perzel could show some real leadership and propose action to rescind 10 to 13 percent of this ill-gotten raise.
Perhaps he and his colleagues can justify a salary level of U.S. Congressmen, but trying to do it all at once has produced a predictable firestorm.
That well-known phrase comes to mind: “Having it all doesn’t mean having it all at once.”
Barbara Rankin
Brownsville