Pay raises are shameful
Is it illegal? Probably not. Is it ethical? No, no, no! I'm referring to the big pay increases to all the legislators -- 148 percent -- and large increases for judges and governor.
In the last session, the legislators "worked" 86 days. After the pay raise to $39,500, that is $459.30 per day. If they "worked" eight hours, they only made $57.41 per hour. Not bad for an hour's work. And the Arkansas "citizens" salary commission is now recommending a 23 percent raise to the 25 full-time prosecuting attorneys, from $123,162 to $152,000 a year? Where do these people come from?
There's not enough tax money to fix the roads, $4.9 million was cut from health centers, funding was cut from libraries.
What's the minimum wage, $7.50 per hour? Social Security was a whopping 2.1 percent this year. I think the citizens commission, the legislators, judges and even the governor should be ashamed to show their faces in public.
Ronald Paullin
Bella Vista
Editorial on 06/24/2015