PENNSYLVANIA Legislators get rise in pay; top officials are next in line

State legislators now make $64,638 a year, plus benefits.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- A little more cash started flowing into Pennsylvania lawmakers' pockets this month, and a similar pay raise is in the works for other government officials next month.
Lawmakers got a raise of about 1.6 percent as of Dec. 1, bringing each legislator's annual base salary up $1,008 to $64,638, according to W. Russ Faber, the chief clerk of the Senate.
The law also gives increases -- based on the U.S. Labor Department's Consumer Price Index for mid-Atlantic states -- to top state officials, including the governor, lieutenant governor, Cabinet secretaries, attorney general, auditor general, treasurer and justices and judges. The increase takes effect Jan. 1 for those groups.
The increases mean at least an additional $250,000 for the state's 253 lawmakers alone.
Cost of living
By planning for annual increases, the law keeps lawmakers abreast of the cost of living while relieving them of the politically sensitive task of voting themselves pay raises every few years.
Besides the salary, lawmakers get $125 to cover lodging and expenses for each day they are in session in Harrisburg. They are also reimbursed for their mileage or the business share of their automobile operating expenses, Faber said.
New salaries
Gov.-elect Ed Rendell will make $144,416 a year, up from current Gov. Mark Schweiker's $142,142, when he takes office Jan. 21. Lt. Gov.-elect Catherine Baker Knoll will make $121,309, according to the governor's office.
Cabinet secretaries will make salaries ranging from $103,980 to $115,533, and the three row officers -- state Treasurer Barbara Hafer, Attorney General Mike Fisher and Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. -- will make $120,154 each.
The salary for a Supreme Court justice will be $139,585, while new Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy will receive $143,372.
Judges for appellate-level Superior and Commonwealth courts will receive $135,213 a year, up $2,130. President judges of the courts will receive $137,254 annually, up $2,162.
Common Pleas Court judges will see their salaries climb to $121,225 a year. Local district justices will have a $946 increase to $60,031.