A late session maneuver by legislators to give themselves a$600,000 perk while teachers and state employees are told thebudget is too tight for pay raises this year is unbelievable.

A late session maneuver by legislators to give themselves a$600,000 perk while teachers and state employees are told thebudget is too tight for pay raises this year is unbelievable.

But even more unbelievable is the fact that legislators alsothumbed their noses at taxpayers by enriching their own pocketbooksunder the cloak of darkness — hiding behind closed doors in secretconference committee meetings away from the public eye.

Under the secretly passed bill, legislator’s retirement benefitswill double while other state employees benefits package willremain the same. Legislators will have to pay 3 percent more intothe system, but in return the state’s contribution will increasefrom 6.33 percent to more than 17 percent.

The secret became public on Thursday when Governor RonnieMusgrove allowed the bill to become law. Musgrove refused to signthe bill citing he was uncomfortable signing a bill which hepersonally would financially benefit. However, unless vetoed, abill becomes law with or without the governor’s signature. Musgrovecould have easily stopped the perk but he too was being less thanforthright.

The legislature and the governor should be ashamed! They bothdeceived the public and again have taken care of their personalneeds while passing over the needs of others — all at taxpayerexpense.

Of course legislators can counter the argument saying theypassed a multi-year teacher pay raise plan starting next year.However, they attached strings to that pay raise which could keepteachers from ever seeing the promised pay increase.

There are no strings attached to the legislature’s retirementperk.

No wonder teachers are skeptical and the public has little trustfor politicians.

To regain teacher and public trust, lawmakers need to do threethings next January.

– Retract the benefits package perk they voted themselves.

– Remove the “5 percent revenue growth” string attached to theteacher pay raise package so teachers are guaranteed the promisedpay raise.

– Eliminate the secret conference committee meetings by openingthose meetings to the public so such clandestine pay increases willget the benefit of public debate.

We won’t hold our breath!