So the House voted 62-59 for the payraise. You probably heard 61-60, but one of the representatives said afterwards that his vote wasn't counted correctly, so that made the margin 62-59.
I voted against it. In lean budget times, the bottom line is we have to cut spending. I always said my priorities for this year were education (MAEP, teacher payraise, etc.), solving the Medicaid issue and ensuring stability for the trauma network; and more locally, getting us a second circuit judge and securing pass through funding for the ADEPT dropout recovery school.
I will vote to spend money on things like these. But we can't pile on appropriations as if the situation we find ourselves in does not exist. There will be more times in the next few weeks where I'll find myself voting against good things. However, I have to believe one of the greatest responsibilities we have is to remember we don't spend anything that we haven't first taken from the taxpayers. Anyway, just my thoughts.
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2 comments:
That's a close vote.
I think a pay raise is needed though. Many folks think y'all are making a killing when the truth is if you had to rely solely on your wage you might be eligible for federal assistance.
I understand your sentiment though. Good job continuing to make principled decisions.
A politician that votes against a pay raise for himself for the sake of fiscal discipline? Now that's what I call common sense progressive policy. When was the last pay raise, and is indexed for inflation?
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