November 3, 2008
How about Merit Pay ... for the General Assembly
Rather than to the Consumer Price Index, shouldn't raises for members of the General Assembly in some way be tied to job performance? My own thought would be a factor which combines the growth in jobs in the state with the increase in the median salary in the state. What other factors should be considered?
This is more a matter of principle than of substantive reward as a raise or lack of one will probably not make or break any member of the General Assembly. But it is also a matter of pragmatism. If a state legislature has legislated in a way that has cost the state as a whole jobs and/or good jobs, it is not only that the members have not earned a raise. It is that taxpayers, many of whom do not automatically receive raises tied to the Consumer Price Index, have less money to pay towards one.
Unfortunately your idea makes too much sense to ever come to fruition :)
Posted by: Robert A Paquin III at November 3, 2008 4:54 PMYour idea is absurd. Not one elected position in the United States is remunerated on a "performance" standard. And since when is the sole method for judging a legislator's performance the aggregate job count in the state?
Frankly, your idea reveals a liberal's (dare I say, socialist's) view of the world where a given economic result is just one more outcome that government officials can deliver by moving a few polics levers.
Real conservatives understand that job creation -- and our economic system is far more complex, nuanced, and subtle than that.
What about full time legislators? Lets throw that one around...
Posted by: Robert A Paquin III at November 3, 2008 6:34 PMI have no problem with COLA's-these are NOT "raises".
My problem is with health coverage. Anyone want to guess if no income/sales tax New Hampshire gives ITS part-time legislators health care?
For The Record: I have promised to decline the health coverage if elected...
...Tell your friends in Warwick/Cranston.
The very idea that we have part time legislators is disgraceful. That is a job that does, or should, require full time attention... especially considering the condition this state is in.
Posted by: Shocked at November 4, 2008 4:01 PM