For Immediate Release
July 13, 2007

CONTACT:
Colleen Greer
Phone: 717-787-6801
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Weekly Column: Judicial Pay Linkage Bill Signed Into Law

Under a new state law, the last vestiges of the inexcusable 2005 pay raise have finally been eliminated – severing the tie-in between federal and state judicial salaries.

The judicial pay linkage was established during the pay raise debacle. However last year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court partly reinstated the pay raise which lawmakers repealed after appropriate public outcry. In its decision, the court determined the Legislature could not repeal the raise for judges. The ruling said only judges should receive the raise, not the legislators or other government employees who originally qualified. The court found the repeal law violated the constitutional provision that prohibits the reduction of compensation during a judge's term in office.

As a result, the repealed 2005 state law has remained in effect for judges, thereby tying their salaries to their federal counterparts. Because a state constitutional provision has prevented the General Assembly from reducing judicial compensation, I unveiled legislation (Senate Bill 44) earlier this year that ends the salary loophole for the state judiciary. This is a necessary step to avoid another huge pay increase for our judges when Congress raises federal judicial salaries.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a measure – House Bill 10 – that included language from my bill which removes the link between state and federal judges' salaries. I am pleased that in recent days the Governor decided to sign this legislation into law. It makes more sense that state compensation be set by state officials.

Prior to the passage of this legislation in both the Senate and House, I held a public hearing before the State Government Committee which I chair to hear testimony from law school professors and citizen activists. Those who testified expressed their support for my legislation and spoke at length regarding what they perceived as problems in the Supreme Court's decision.

It's important to note that I have not been seeking to reduce the salaries of the state's 1,000 judges, but rather to change the structure by which future salary increases are based. I never believed that judicial salaries should be tied to a federal scheme of compensation. I did not vote for the pay raise two years ago and did not think it should even have been considered. The time has come to bring about substantive and significant systemic changes in all areas of state government including our legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

We should be working to make Pennsylvania government more transparent and accountable by proposing sweeping reforms – reforms with respect for the Constitution and fair and open government. This includes initiating the dialogue for members of the Legislature and the citizens of Pennsylvania on whether to convene a constitutional convention to ensure the fundamentals of governance in the Commonwealth. We need to restore that confidence by making all lawmakers and government bodies more responsible to the people who elect us.