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For Immediate
Release
4/18/07
CONTACT:
Colleen Greer
(717) 787-6801
 
Piccola Measure De-Linking State & Federal Judicial
Salaries Passes Senate
HARRISBURG – Senate
State Government Committee Chairman Jeffrey E. Piccola (R-15) lauded the Senate
today for approving Senate Bill 44, his legislation which eliminates the tie-in
between federal judicial salaries and Commonwealth judicial salaries.
The
Pennsylvania
Supreme Court partly reinstated the controversial pay raise that state lawmakers
repealed after popular outcry. In its decision, the court determined that the
Legislature could not repeal the raise for judges. The ruling said only judges
should receive the raise, not the legislators or other government employees who
originally qualified. The court found the repeal law violated the
constitutional provision that prohibits the reduction of compensation during a
judge's term in office. As a result, the now repealed 2005 state law remains in
effect for judges, thereby tying their salaries to their federal counterparts.
"Because a state constitutional provision prevents
the General Assembly from reducing judicial compensation, I decided to sponsor
legislation that would do away with the federal judge pay linkage system. I am
not seeking to reduce judicial salaries, but rather to change the structure on
which those salaries are based. This is necessary to avoid another huge pay
increase for state judges when Congress raises federal judicial salaries," said
Piccola.
Senate Bill 44 also includes a provision to raise
judicial salaries by $1, thus bolstering its chances of withstanding a court
challenge. "This would assure the new salary system would not violate the
constitutional ban on diminishment of judicial pay, which was the argument the
court cited to reinstate the pay raise for Pennsylvania's judges," added
Piccola.
The State Government Committee recently held a
public hearing on Senate Bill 44, where Professor Bruce Ledewitz of Duquesne
University's School of Law testified in support of the legislation and spoke at
length regarding what he perceived as problems in the Supreme Court's September
2006 pay raise decision. During his testimony, Ledewitz stated: "The most
important reason to repeal the tie has little to do with how much our judges are
paid or should be paid. The tie should be repealed because the case upholding
it so manipulated the law that judicial integrity in Pennsylvania cannot be
restored until that case's effect is rescinded." The professor referred to the
court's decision as an "illegal pay grab by the judges."
Piccola echoed Ledewitz's sentiments by stating that
the judges' ruling was about
inflating their own
wallets at the expense of the Commonwealth's taxpayers and the integrity of the
Pennsylvania Constitution. "I did not vote for the pay raise and did not
think it should even have been considered. The entire situation eroded public
trust in our government," he said.
"Furthermore, I never believed that judicial
salaries should be tied to a federal scheme of compensation. It makes more
sense that state compensation be set by state officials," Piccola said. "It's
time we restore the confidence of Pennsylvanians by making all public officials
more responsible to the people who elect us," added Piccola.
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