Dec 10, 2016 3 min read

In a Nov. 23 letter, 33-year State Rep. Pete Daley expressed thanks to the people of Pennsylvania for the ability to serve for all these years. That is the least he can do.

Daley may now retire with a pension that roughly matches his final salary, which exceeds $86,000 per annum: big money to most in Washington County, no doubt.

In his farewell, Daley outlined of what he has done for the district and its citizens over the years. I am not surprised to note that he omitted some of his most critical actions.

In 2001, Daley joined 175 of his greedy House colleagues to approve a retroactive pension boost, providing a 25 percent hike to active rank-and-file state workers and public school teachers while reserving the lion’s share for members of the General Assembly, a 50 percent increase. This provided a perverse incentive for members like him to serve for life, something which the Founding Fathers never intended.

This infamous measure helped get the ball rolling on the pension fund deficit that we face today, and which the Legislature and the governor have refused to address, a shortfall which is estimated to be as much as $65 billion, more than twice the amount the commonwealth spends each year. Voting for this bill will haunt us long after Daley steps away from the floor of the House.

In the 1990s the public had been assured that a cost-of-living-increase mechanism approved for legislators would ensure that they would never again need to bring forward legislation for a pay hike. That promise was shattered when, in 2005, Daley joined his colleagues in voting for a middle-of-the-night pay raise for himself, a sneak attack of which the public had no prior knowledge nor ability to comment upon. To get around the law which precluded individuals from enriching themselves within their terms, a facet of the scheme involved providing the members with remuneration in the form of “unvouchered expenses,” a payment for which they were not required to account or justify. Unlike some of his colleagues, Daley took the unvouchered expense money, remuneration which served to boost his pension, while justifying it by purchasing $20 vouchers for turkeys for needy constituents.

Daley’s latest act against the district was his no vote on the omnibus transportation bill which was the subject of great debate for it was finally approved on a bipartisan basis. It provided for a nominal increase in the gasoline tax, driver’s license and vehicle registration fees in exchange for the maintenance of the commonwealth’s critical infrastructure. It also enabled struggling mass transit systems to breathe again with renewed funding so as to maintain or enhance service levels.

If the tenets of those who founded our nation were honored, no one would be able to serve in a highly compensated, highly perked position in government for a third of a century.

Oren Spiegler

Upper St. Clair