After several weeks of reading editorials decrying the automatic congressional raises, we are pleased to see that Mark Fischenich, the Mankato Free Press's political reporter, actually looked into the question of pay for elected officials, in Pondering pay raises: Elected officials consider sacrifices in tough times.. The lead:
From city councils to Congress, elected officials are facing the question of how much self-sacrifice to impose on themselves during an economic recession that may be the deepest since the Great Depression.
The answer has varied greatly, ranging from the Blue Earth County Board approving a 2 percent increase in their salaries to Congressman Tim Walz turning back to the treasury more than $8,700 in pay.
We've been posting a larger number, since we've been adding in last year's returned raise as well; Fischenich's number is correct for money refused this year. More Walz coverage:
Walz’s decision to not
accept the $4,700 cost-of-living adjustment being provided to members
of Congress was actually locked in before he was first elected in 2006.
Walz promised on the campaign trail he wouldn’t accept a pay raise
until the minimum wage was increased and the federal budget was
balanced. The minimum wage hike was approved quickly,
but it appears it will be a long time before the federal budget is back
in the black. Surpluses early this decade have turned into a projected
annual deficit of more than $1 trillion the current fiscal year. Walz gave back a $4,130 pay increase a year
ago. So this year, he’s surrendering that amount again in addition to
the 2009 raise — meaning he will be accepting about $8,700 less than
the $174,000 being paid to members of Congress. “Congressman Walz realizes that returning
$8,700 this year to the treasury won’t pay off our $10 trillion debt
any time soon,” spokeswoman Meredith Salsbery said, “but he thinks that
with our economy in trouble, now is not the time for a pay raise.”
The Mankato Free Press gets our moo-out of approval for being the first legacy press in the state to actually do its due diligence on this issue. Other than the MFP, the story has been pushed by blogs and the Minnesota Independent, an online news source. The Independent also picked up on our story earlier today about Walz being a co-sponsor of H.R. 156, a bill aimed at blocking next year's automatic raise. When the MnIndy posted Reps. Walz, Peterson sponsor bill to stop Congressional raises, Seventh District Representative Collin Peterson had joined Walz, signing on as a co-sponsor today. We have updated our earlier coverage accordingly.
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