Pay raises came close to being approved by the Legislature just before it adjourned last November, but an agreement couldn't be worked out between legislative leaders and Gov. Ed Rendell, who ended up in a big shouting match about it behind his closed office doors.
Now there's talk that the issue of raises might arise this month, as the Legislature works to complete action on a 2005-06 state budget by June 30.
"The more you guys in the media keep writing and talking about it, the more my members are thinking about it," quipped House Majority leader Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, this week. "It was definitely on the table last November, and there are still some residuals from that," he said. "But it's not the premier thing we're looking at in June."
Smith said there are areas in Pennsylvania where there is a "significant disparity" between legislators' pay and that of people in the private sector. Legislators now make $69,647 a year, putting them behind some in the private sector in urban areas but ahead of many people in rural areas.
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