Governor signs law to repeal pay raises

The pay-raise law sprouted two legal challenges.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- A repeal of unpopular government pay raises became law Wednesday as the Senate passed, then Gov. Ed Rendell signed a measure that lawmakers hope will wipe away four months of intense public criticism and protect their jobs.
Tired of fielding complaints about their salaries, some lawmakers saw the repeal as crucial to repairing their reputations and putting the issue behind them as the 2006 legislative elections loom. Just a week ago, Pennsylvania voters demonstrated their anger at state government by ousting a Supreme Court justice.
The House approved the legislation on Monday. The final hurdle -- the Senate's 50-0 vote and Rendell's signature -- came 132 days after the Legislature, in the dead of night and without public notice or debate, raised the salaries of more than 1,300 public officials, including themselves and state judges, and sparked a storm of criticism.
"We are here to correct a mistake," the Senate's Republican leader, David J. Brightbill of Lebanon County, said as he introduced the legislation on the Senate floor. "As one of the people who exercised poor judgment, I would like to apologize."
In a statement, Rendell, who signed the legislation privately, repeated his prior pleas for the Legislature to move on to other issues, noting that "far too many days" have passed without focus on his agenda.
Angry response
Radio talk show hosts, editorial writers and citizen activist groups lambasted lawmakers over the size of the legislative raises -- 16 percent to 54 percent -- and the way the bill was handled. Critics said the controversy also raised questions about whether the courts acted as a check on legislative power.
Much of the anger was directed at lawmakers' use of "unvouchered expenses" -- a legal maneuver upheld 19 years ago by the Supreme Court -- to collect their raises right away, despite a constitutional ban on midterm pay raises.
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