Kudos to the three local lawmakers who informed the Times last week that they do not intend to keep the pay raise state legislators are scheduled to get in 2009.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, and then later Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville, said they would refuse the increase in salary. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said he would donate the extra money he receives in 2009 to local charity, saying the dollars will be better spent in local hands than in the state government's.
Our guess is that the current economic picture and public sentiment against the pay increases will result in most state lawmakers making pledges similar to those we heard last week. Let's hope that's the case.
Despite the potential for a $5.4 billion state budget shortfall, lawmakers are scheduled to receive a pay raise of $2,530 in 2009 to $49,943 annually, according to the state Department of Administration. The increase, part of a 5.3 percent bump over two years, was approved by the eight-member Joint Committee on Employment Relations. The salaries were recommended by the Office of the State Employment Relations.
The Legislature as a whole can't officially refuse the 2009 pay raise. But they all can refuse to take the money - or donate it to charity. They all should do so, and then move to change the way that pay raises for lawmakers are approved.
Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, D-Manitowoc, who along with Erpenbach was the first to publicly declare they would reject the pay raise, pledged Friday to continue to support proposals to require the full Legislature to vote on pay raises for elected state officials.
Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, also said each lawmaker should have a vote.
"If you want a pay raise, you should have the guts to vote for one," Heck told the Wisconsin State Journal.
He's right, and changing the procedure should be the next step taken in the upcoming legislative session.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, and then later Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville, said they would refuse the increase in salary. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said he would donate the extra money he receives in 2009 to local charity, saying the dollars will be better spent in local hands than in the state government's.
Our guess is that the current economic picture and public sentiment against the pay increases will result in most state lawmakers making pledges similar to those we heard last week. Let's hope that's the case.
Despite the potential for a $5.4 billion state budget shortfall, lawmakers are scheduled to receive a pay raise of $2,530 in 2009 to $49,943 annually, according to the state Department of Administration. The increase, part of a 5.3 percent bump over two years, was approved by the eight-member Joint Committee on Employment Relations. The salaries were recommended by the Office of the State Employment Relations.
The Legislature as a whole can't officially refuse the 2009 pay raise. But they all can refuse to take the money - or donate it to charity. They all should do so, and then move to change the way that pay raises for lawmakers are approved.
Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, D-Manitowoc, who along with Erpenbach was the first to publicly declare they would reject the pay raise, pledged Friday to continue to support proposals to require the full Legislature to vote on pay raises for elected state officials.
Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, also said each lawmaker should have a vote.
"If you want a pay raise, you should have the guts to vote for one," Heck told the Wisconsin State Journal.
He's right, and changing the procedure should be the next step taken in the upcoming legislative session.
