A free thinker in the Heartland...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Go Indiana Dems!

What are the democrats doing in Indy? From the South Bend Tribune:

Senate Democrats on Monday proposed an array of political reforms that they said would enhance government openness and accountability, including an independent commission to set legislative pay and benefits.

The Democrats said the compensation commission would eliminate the inherent conflict that lawmakers face when they set their own compensation package.

Lawmakers' base pay is $11,600 per year, but per diems and expenses push the average compensation package to about $45,000, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

"We need to step back and step out of that (process)," Senate Minority Leader Richard Young, D-Milltown, said.


There is more... I didn't want to copy the whole thing. I like the idea of lawmakers stepping back from pay decisions... Congress could take a page from that with voting a pay raise for themselves in 9 of the last 10 years. I like the ideas in this article, and wonder what else they got planned?