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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcazapu wrote

Reply to comment by ITcurmudgeon in Filing my part-year resident taxes, and realized that Pennsylvania is truly hell on earth by [deleted]

Pennsylvania's entire state budget for 2022 was $42.5b. Ohio's state budget for the same year was over $80b for a smaller population and a smaller economy.
 
Pennsylvania's budget per capita is the third lowest in the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_budgets

 

People in this sub, and on Grandpa's Facebook feed, love to hoot and holler about how wasteful the state government here is but the numbers don't bear it out.

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ITcurmudgeon t1_jcb65tf wrote

I wasn't talking about the state budget, I was referring to the actual legislative body, our representatives, who make the laws. Next to New York, we have the largest, most expensive legislature in the nation.

For how large and costly they are, with their exceptionally high salaries, with their numerous assistants, and their assistants assistants, and their personal expenditures which they fight tooth and nail against disclosing publicly, they really get precious little done.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcb7kmi wrote

> I wasn't talking about the state budget, I was referring to the actual legislative body,

 
Can you tell me exactly where you think the pay for the legislative body comes from?
 
This is a perfect Facebook Grandpa post. Short on numbers, long on ranting and feels.

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ITcurmudgeon t1_jcb972l wrote

If criticizing our legislature for wasteful, unnecessary spending for self-enrichment is "perfect Facebook, grandpa" post, then so be it.

I'm pretty sure I linked to numbers in my previous post, but here's some more reading:

PA legislature crooked spending

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcba2ct wrote

To clarify, you think that ~$51m a year is an exorbitant amount to operate a legislature?
 
That is less than 1/10th of the city of Pittsburgh School District's yearly budget. It is 1/10 of 1% of the state's budget.
 
It isn't 1965 and bread doesn't cost a nickel a loaf anymore, grandpa.

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ITcurmudgeon t1_jcbay2t wrote

Dude, did you read any of the articles? That $51 million isn't the total cost of the legislature, that $51 million is just what our legislature is spending on expenses. Dinners, car rentals, lodgings and other perks that they refuse to disclose.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcbbpd5 wrote

Tack on $22,770,000 for 253 General Assembly members' salaries and we've got $73.8m more or less, per year. Still less than two tenths of a percent of the state's entire budget.
 
What is an acceptable cost to run a legislature in your opinion? What is an acceptable salary for legislators if $90K is just excessive, in your opinion?
 
If you've got better numbers for the total cost to operate the general assembly than I've got here, you're welcome to show us. Because all I can see here is Grandpa yelling the clouds over a tiny fraction of the state budget.

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ITcurmudgeon t1_jcbfax8 wrote

I would have less of a problem with their spending habits if they showed a wee bit more transparency. As a whole, our representatives put up a huge fight when it comes to disclosing their expenditures, since it will likely shine light on their wasteful and frivolous spending. So while you justify their spending as being a small part of the state budget, it is still taxpayer dollars that they are wasting and there are some very poor communities across our state that I'm sure would love to see some of that $50 million plus be redirected their way.

And the rank and file representatives are all now clearing six digits in salary, the third highest in the nation. And that's on top of their health care and generous pensions.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcbg19e wrote

So to be clear, you have no idea what you think it should cost to operate a legislature and you're just complaining like a Facebook Grandpa?

 
> And the rank and file representatives are all now clearing six digits in salary,

 
Woopty fuckin' doo, it isn't 1965 anymore. Their base salary is $90K last I checked. That ain't much.

 
If you're concerned about waste let's go after the PA State Police, who have a budget in excess of $831m per year and suck up a huge amount of our gas taxes that should be going to highways.

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ITcurmudgeon t1_jcbk127 wrote

Yeah well, you should check again cause they're now all clearing 100k. They recently voted themselves CoL increases. It's not like corruption and waste are some new and crazy thing when it comes to our representatives, but it is obviously something you give little Fucks about.

And yeah, the state police appropriating money that should be going to the states highways is a special level of dumbfuckery which has lead to us having one of the highest gas taxes at the fuel pump and the costliest toll roads in the nation.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jcbl53a wrote

> Yeah well, you should check again cause they're now all clearing 100k.

 
And that is peanuts. It isn't 1965 anymore.
 
Every number I can find indicates that they're spending less than two tenths of a percent of the state budget to operate the General Assembly. There are bigger fish to fry.

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