On Thursday, PA State Representative Rob Kauffman said that he claims $52.00 in per diems because of the “unique daily expenses of being a legislator.” This left me wondering what exactly Representative Kauffman could be talking about when he describes the special circumstances of the legislative branch that mystically require extra cash to pay for things that the average worker does not need.
What is it about General Assemblymen and State Senators that requires them to carpe per diems?
Could it be that legislators need per diems for gasoline because, once elected into public office, the human body begins to be fueled by internal combustion? No, I think almost every worker in the Commonwealth needs gas to get to work, not just Joe Representative.
Is it the case that legislators, once they get into office, experience an immediate and immeasurable refining of the palate—so much so that a brown bag lunch tastes like, well, a brown bag? No, I think the culinary necessities of being a legislator are not unique to their profession.
I had my questioned partially answered when Rep. Kauffman got on T.V. and explained that he seizes such hefty per diems because he has four kids that he needs to support. That’s all well and good, but having children is not a “unique daily expense” exclusive to legislators.
It is an expense shared by, well, a whole lot of people.
So I put it to you, dear readers, what are the “unique daily expenses of being a legislator” that the average worker does not share? What am I missing here?
You’re missing nothing, Jake. As anyone with a better paying job who has ever considered running for office knows, when you question why you would inflict a lower wage on yourself to get a thankless job like that you hear this: “Well, that’s the BASE salary…with per diems and other things you end up making more.” The reality is we under pay legislators which is why we seem to mostly get two groups of legislators. The independantly wealthy and the people not good enough at what they do in private life to earn as much as even a PA state legislator.
Knock off the per diems, just pay them the money outright.
Why are legislators even needed? Why can’t ‘we the people’ vote on the issues ourselves?
LOL
Underpay them, huh? BASE pay of approx. $80,000 puts PA legislators above the 85th percentile for income in the U.S.: fewer than 15% of Americans have incomes that high. And that’s not counting pension, per diems, or other benefits. Only a handful of other states in the nation pay their state legislators higher salaries than Pennsylvania does, and per citizen no other state pays as much for its legislature as Pennsylvania does. It is hard to imagine anyone having difficulty supporting his or her family on even a single income with such a comfortable income as PA legislators receive.
We pay legislators too much. While othink that there should be some per diem payments for travel to the Capitol and their districts and business related expenses, and covering costs for overnight stays in or near Harrisburg because it is occasionally necessary. Outside of that, there are not many more reasons to offer per diem payments. A starting salary of $80k/year is quite a bit more than what most Pennsylvanians make a year. Paying legislators the median wage for a Pennsylvanian’s median wage might be productive in making legislators find ways to raise wages for their constituents.
What you are missing is that a group of people who run the business of government that includes paying themselves with only the press as a light into their business can get away with a lot. They start to believe that they are above the law and good business practice. They forget the free stuff they get for their job. They forget the influence peddling they can even do legally after they leave office. And they definitely forget, if they ever knew, that others seem to raise children on the kind of money they earn.
We certainly don’t get our money’s worth from the most expensive state legislature in the nation–car rentals, per diems, office expenses, political ads disguised as legislative mailings, and exorbitant pensions all add to the Harrisburg gravy train. In addition, walk through the capital building–office after office of caucus, party, and special task force offices that all cost us money. For this, we get “Year of the Bible”, Voter ID, and “Vaginal Probe” legislation while ignoring transportation, proliferation of local governments and school districts, and streamlining the operations of the state. My representative, Eli Evankovich is so clueless that he was taken by surprise by the closure of one of the welfare offices in the area by the DPW.
JKE101,
I grew up in the district that Rep. Evankovich now represents. Patrick Leyland is running against him and could use some help.
Send Patrick an email at campaign54district@gmail.com
Or send him some cash:
Patrick Leyland – 54th District
Send checks to: “Friends of Patrick Leyland”
4923 Garvers Ferry Road
New Kensington, PA 15068
Yeah, nothing gets qualified candidates for any position like a race to the bottom on pay and benefits because “the majority doesn’t make that much”. If we are going to pretend that governance is important, give a salary equal to the pretense. Otherwise, we get morons or the idle rich in office.
Thanks Jake, I voted for Patrick in the primary but was never able to find information about his campaign or even the results of the election. The Westmoreland County Election Bureau’s site does not even have any votes listed for Patrick.
Thanks again for giving us this forum for information and discussion about what is going on within the Commonwealth.
John English
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