The current session of the Virginia General Assembly has wrapped up, and Democrats capped off their “Affordability” crusade by passing a bill (SB30) that triples the annual stipend members receive to partially offset the 2 months they’re away from their regular jobs to serve the people. Every Democrat voted for it; every Republican voted against it. Instead of the current $17,650 for Delegates and $18,000 for Senators, the new bill increases the compensation for each to $55,000 (roughly $27,500 for each month of the General Assembly session), amounting to a more than 300% pay increase if the Governor signs the bill. When is the last time you got a 300% raise? I would bet never, unless of course you are currently “serving” in the General Assembly. Most hard-working Virginians probably don’t make near $55,000 for a full-time 40 hour/week, 12 months/year job.
Seeking election to the General Assembly is supposed to be motivated by a desire to serve the people of this Commonwealth. It is not intended to be a full-time job, and it was certainly never intended to pay like one. Neither was serving in the General Assembly intended to be financially lucrative, and for good reason. Making membership in an elected governing body financially profitable essentially leaves the door to the treasury wide open and lit with a flashing neon sign inviting all manner of corruption. Most members of the General Assembly have good-paying jobs outside of government service. Almost all members of the General Assembly are attorneys or other professionals who are able financially and otherwise to spend 2 months in Richmond away from their careers. Very few average working people could afford to take 8 weeks of leave to serve, even if they had an employer willing to keep their job waiting when they return. The stipend was meant only to compensate lawmakers for the time away from their primary source of income. SB30 instead trades a year’s pay for 2 months of service. Imagine if you would the luxury of being paid a handsome full-year’s salary for a fraction of a year’s worth of labor. A great deal if you can get it, and astonishingly, Democrats in Richmond think they can. The best part (for them, at least): it’s all at taxpayer expense.
Perhaps one of the reasons the Democrats proposed a virtual tsunami of new taxes early in the session is a little clearer now: they want to fill their own cup from the public trough. The audacity of voting to triple your own salary and then look people in the eye and claim you care about their troubles provides a glaring example of just how disconnected and disingenuous General Assembly Democrats are relative to the working people of Virginia. That they could be so utterly unconcerned over the horrendous optics of voting themselves a more than 300% raise after campaigning to make Virginia more “affordable” for struggling families makes me wonder what they are thinking, or if they are thinking at all.
David Robinette Jr.,
Patrick Springs
