Another perspective on the pay raise
When the pay raise issue first arose, commentators thought that after, after a week or so of outrage, it would go away. Why are we still so focused on it? To answer that question we need to put the pay raise issue in some political and economic context. One reason political scientists and journalists thought that the issue would die is that we know that people don’t pay much attention to politics. Another reason is that many of us think there is a case to be made for a well paid legislature. Much research shows that well paid legislators tend to be better informed, more interested in policy innovations, and more resistant to special interests. They also tend to spread power from legislative leaders to the backbenchers. These tendencies are hard to discern in our General Assembly now. But if we are ever to see reform inHarrisburg, it will be… Continue reading