The house that I am living in right now has a value of about $60,000. You can get into low income housing big time for the cost of a large house in California.
That depends on where in California.
Here is a list of how your legislators voted regarding the pay raise. Feel free to congratulate or castigate.
You know, I’ve never understood why we allow legislators to give themselves pay raises in the first place. If there’s ANYTHING that should be a constitutionally-mandated referendum, it’s anything to do with legislator pay.
Well, if it were left up to “the people”, the legislators would never get a pay raise. I agree it’s not entirely appropriate for someone to vote a pay raise for themself, but I don’t think it’s a wise idea to leave that entirely in the hands of the voters. I’ve often thought that if we do allow legislators to vote in pay raises, they raises should not take effect for a couple of terms.
JOhn.
Nope.
Schools, libraries, and Fire Departments all have to fight to get levys passed. Why shouldn't somone who gets paid over $100,000 have to justify his raise to the people who pay the taxes?
Those of us who hold our breaths to see if we will get to keep our jobs, would love to see a few legislatiors have to settle for the cheaper yacht because the same voters chose not to give them a raise.
Heck, I would like to see the issue of a pay CUT come up for a vote. People would swarm the polls in record numbers.All of this is precisely why the pay of legislators should be tied to the cost of living allowances that Joe and Jane Schlub collect from their positions.
Beyond that, I have to ask, why does PA need a full time legislative body? IIRC, only four states, CA, NY, and another beyond PA find it necessary to have a pack of bozos who pretend to have full time jobs, said jobs being to figure out how to make themselves look busy while spending the taxpayer’s money like sailors on a three day pass. (No offense meant to good members of the USN). 
And the problem here is…? 
Seriously, why does a legislator NEED $100,000 a year in personal income? What do they DO that merits that kind of wage? See, my personal political ideal would be that legislators would be completely voter-supported during their terms. We’d pay for their (adequate but not lavish) apartment (not townhouse/mansion/estate), for their personal protection, for their sustenance, for their state business travel, with a small stipend for entertainment. If you want to get rich, politics should NOT be the place to do it.
I think making legislative positions a bit more austere would pretty much guarantee that we have people in the capitol who want to serve the taxpayer, rather than line their pockets.
Which is precisely why monkeys will fly out of our asses singing Yankee Doodle Dandy in four part harmony before any such thing happens. The rules for reform are so exhaustive and onerous that the voice of the people is nothing more than an election time joke. They don’t give a fuck because they don’t have to.