Arrogance.  Plain and simple arrogance.  Yesterday the Alabama legislature voted to override Gov. Riley’s veto of their 62% pay increase.  They did this because they are sure that Alabamians will either forget in three years or hold our noses and vote for them anyway because of the pork they dole out.  It’s enough to just about make me physically sick.  I’m not going to forget and I’ll be spending the next three years trying to make sure that no one else does.

Rep. John Rogers’ comments were indicative of the smug attitude many lawmakers have about the propensity of the people to forget.

“(Voters) hate us together but they love us as individuals,” said Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham.

Rogers’ comrade Thad McClammy expressed doubt that it would be an election issue.  I don’t hate Mr. Rogers or Mr. McClammy, but I hope their constituents vote them out of office. 

This isn’t about the money.  Before yesterday the legislators received $30,410 in compensation and now they’ll be getting $49,250.  Considering that number hasn’t been increased since 1991 it works out to an average increase of about 3% per year.  I do subscribe to the notion that the pay should be high enough to attract people of modest means.  I understand that even though they’re only in session a handful of days they do work year round.  From that perspective $49,250 seems reasonable.

What has roiled my blood is that not one single legislator mentioned a 62% pay raise during their campaign.  Every single person who ran knew the pay and ran anyway.  If a legislator tells you he/she didn’t know the pay then that person is either a liar or too incompetent to serve in that capacity.  Have you ever taken a job without first asking what they pay will be?

There is no provision in the pay increase that will restrict double dipping.  So, despite getting a 62% raise many of our legislators will continue to keep their “jobs” as “auxiliary services coordinators” and “executive assistants to the president” in our two year college system.  I *might* have actually endorsed this pay raise if it put an end to that.

The manner in which this pay increase was passed is particularly bothersome.  There was no mention of it beforehand.  They (the Democratic leadership) slipped it into the resolution readings out of order to get it passed on a voice vote in both houses originally.  Jim Folsom, Jr. pretended to be blind and deaf and proclaimed the resolution as passed via voice vote despite the boisterous calls from multiple senators to have a roll call vote.  According to the Alabama Constitution, a roll call vote must be taken if three or more senators make that request.  The attempted deception and disregard to the Constitution are extremely bothersome to me.

The legislators overrode the veto on the same day as about 200 people (including me and my family) gathered outside the state house to protest the raise.  I’ll write more on the protest itself in a separate post.  I saw those legislators and their staff looking down from their offices at the people of Alabama.  Many of them walked around in the crowd.  A Mobile Press-Register poll showed that 80% of Alabamians opposed the pay raise.  In an unscientific poll, 93% of Decatur Daily readers opposed the pay raise.  And yet the legislators - our so-called public servants - voted in opposition of us.

The full list of how each representative and senator voted can be found here.  The Huntsville Times printed how our local politicians voted:

North Alabama legislators who voted to override the veto and support the pay raise included:

Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Sen. Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Sen. Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Rep. Bill Dukes, D-Decatur; Rep. Ronald Grantland, D-Hartselle; Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville; Rep. Randy Hinshaw, D-Merdianville; Rep. John Robinson, D-Scottsboro; Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney; and Rep. Butch Taylor, D-New Hope.

Area lawmakers who supported Riley and voted to sustain his veto included:

Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison; Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Rep. Mike Ball, R-Madison; Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur; Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw; Rep. Jeremy Oden, R-Vinemont; and Rep. Howard Sanderford, R-Huntsville.

Rep. Frank McDaniel, D-Albertville, did not vote, and Rep. Jeff McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, abstained.

If you live in a district whose senator or representative voted themselves this pay raise do not be influenced by their largesse over the next three years.  They’ll hand out pork and have their pictures in the paper giving checks to schools and kissing babies, but they are just trying to buy you off.  They’re buying you off so that you’ll look the other way as they give themselves a 62% raise.  Don’t do it.

This display of arrogance (I just can’t think of a more appropriate word) shows us why we need Initiative and Referendum in this state more than ever.  If you haven’t heard of I&R before take the time to read about it here or here.  In a nutshell, I&R would allow Alabama’s citizens to bypass our legislature if they were unresponsive and place a constitutional amendment before the voters.  The very first amendment I can think of would be an amendment similar to the federal one that states that all legislative pay raises do not take effect until after the next election.  In other words, legislators can’t simply vote themselves a pay raise and then override a gubernatorial veto with a simple majority vote (which really makes the veto pointless to begin with).  Another amendment that would be high on my list would be a provision for recall.  I’m not a fan of recall in general, but our own legislators are so brazenly cocky that they need to be held accountable.  I guarantee you that if we had recall power in this state that this 62% pay raise would not have passed and probably wouldn’t even have been brought up.

Every single lawmaker who voted for this pay raise needs to be shown the door.  I’m fomenting some ideas on how to keep the memory of this pay raise in front of Alabamians, but they might take a little while to implement.  One of the main things to do is find a way to recruit opposition for all of the bums who disrespected Alabamians yesterday.  I remember and I’ll do my best to make sure Alabama remembers.

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This entry was posted by Brian on Wednesday, March 21st, 2007 at 5:12 am and is filed under Alabama, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Please note the copyright policy.