Feb 11, 2018 2 min read

We are all aware that our state is in a deep financial crisis. In 2017, Pennsylvania missed over $1 billion in reimbursement payments to Medicaid and $581 million in payments to school districts. The hardworking citizens of the commonwealth are suffering because Pennsylvania is broke.

Our current legislators talk about cutting 53 seats to save $15 million a year. Don’t change the number of representatives, change the salary. The work of representing Pennsylvania citizens’ interests in Harrisburg is a part-time job; it should not be paid a full-time salary and pension.

New Hampshire legislators get paid $100 a year. Pennsylvania lawmakers are paid approximately $100,000 a year. Why do Pennsylvania legislators make 1,000 times more than New Hampshire legislators? Something is wrong. If we adopted New Hampshire’s state government model, we would save $60 million per year.

All voters, Democrats and Republicans, have a rare opportunity this election cycle to change Pennsylvania’s model of government. We have this opportunity because 24 legislators are retiring. We should challenge every candidate running for these empty seats to voluntarily adopt a New Hampshire Patriot Citizen model of government. New Hampshire legislators are true public servants. Pennsylvania legislators cannot call themselves public servants.

In this rare moment we should demand all candidates to sign a pledge to limit their salaries to $100 a year. If all of Pennsylvania legislators adopted the New Hampshire model, we would save taxpayers $1 billion in just 17 years.

A 2016 Gallup poll that measured people’s confidence in their state government clearly found that confidence in state government goes down when the salaries of lawmakers go up. Pennsylvania is seventh from the bottom. Clearly we do not trust our legislators.

It is time to make a change, a change that will benefit all Pennsylvanians.

Patricia Gambol

Blairsville