This is my first diary and its short but I am writing it to show that we can change how our government works, especially when it does the wrong thing. We just need to stand up and shout "we are not going to take it anymore!"
State legislators, heeding a loud outcry from an angry public, last night voted overwhelmingly to repeal the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raise they approved in July.
[Update] "But the two chambers could not agree on one key provision and passed differing versions of the bill, meaning the legislation is still in limbo. "
PA we need to keep shouting!
Full Story here
www.post-gazette . . .
The repeal votes marked a startling turnaround. As recently as Tuesday night, senators were considering a repeal of only a portion of the pay raise, but the anti-pay raise movement quickly gained the upper hand.
Several senators acknowledged yesterday that the tide had clearly turned against the raise. "The pay raise is dead, it's not going to survive," said Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, R-Lebanon, who had been one of its staunchest defenders.
State Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, the author of the repeal bill, said he hoped there would be no legal challenge.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Today's vote is about respecting the public," said Sen. Richard Kasunic (D., Westmoreland). "... Democracy has worked."
"Pressure mounted in individual lawmakers' districts and they had to listen to the public," Rep. Charles T. McIlhinney Jr. (R., Bucks) said moments after the House voted.
An ecstatic Gene Stilp, a Harrisburg activist and one of the movement's leaders, said the political turnabout "shows the power of the people of Pennsylvania."