In the aftermath of the controversial pay-hike vote, more lawmakers in Harrisburg are having second thoughts, with nine lawmakers saying they will not currently accept the 16 percent pay raise that was approved on July 7. The public outrage that continues to grow over the pay-raise vote taken at 2 a.m., with no debate and no opportunity for public input. Adding fuel to the voter-outrage fire is the use of "unvouchered expenses," by which the pay raise is now being distributed in clear violation of the intent of the state constitution, which specifically bars lawmakers from voting themselves a pay raise and requires raises not be implemented until the following legislative term, in this case January 2007.

Lawmakers apparently expected the pay-raise vote to stir up a few predictable howls of protest that would last for just a couple of weeks. State lawmakers, with the overt support of Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, must have expected the protests to die down quickly, as most have in the past. But that has not happened.

This time, the anger is deep, and many voters intend in the next election to let the lawmakers in Harrisburg know that they do not hold their jobs for life - especially when they do something nearly every person in the state strongly opposes.

At last count, nine lawmakers have come forward to announce they will not accept the $11,000 pay raise that is now being paid to other lawmakers through the unvouchered-expense scam.

More than one of the nine lawmakers has said that listening to their constituents led them to the decision to refuse the raise via the constitution-bending practice of false, undocumented expense accounts. But about 150 lawmakers, who are pocketing the extra money via bogus expense reports, see nothing wrong in the practice and are taking their higher pay now, despite the state constitution's clear intent.

It is unfortunate that those nine lawmakers - and their 250 colleagues in the legislature - didn't speak with their constituents before they voted themselves a 16 percent to 34 percent raise in the pre-dawn hours of July 7. If they had, they might have learned that most people believe they are already relatively well paid and receive a very generous package of perks, including car allowance, insurance, per diems and lucrative pension benefits.

The perspective of many Pennsylvanians is that the $11,000 pay boost is undeserved, and the manner in which the pay raise was passed is even more outrageous.

There was no advance notice that lawmakers planned to concoct a pay-raise plan as part of the annual budget package and so there was no opportunity for public input. There was no debate on the issue in the General Assembly before the vote was taken. The package was constructed by party leadership behind closed doors in such a way that legislators' pay could not be separated from the whole package, which included pay hikes for judges and administration officials, with the lawmakers' intent being quite obvious - that judges wouldn't rule against their own pay raises, so lawmakers' extra $11,000 or more a year would be safe.

Many people might agree that judges and certain executive-branch positions deserve higher pay, but a 16 percent to 34 percent boost for already well-paid lawmakers is too much to accept. And the sneaky, arrogant and, frankly, sleazy way it was handled only makes it worse.

For his part, Gov. Ed Rendell says he is "not surprised at the outcry over the pay raise." He has backtracked somewhat in his defense of the pay-raise vote, but he still praises the provision that ties future increases to pay rates for Congress and other parts of the federal government. Rendell boasts that such a provision is a good thing, because it takes the raises "out of the hands of legislators." But, they might as well have tied future raises to the rising sun, in terms of predictability. And who's to say that Pennsylvania lawmakers deserve to be paid half as much as members of Congress?

Why not look at their performance? The July 7 pay-raise vote makes our lawmakers the highest paid in the nation. But are Pennsylvanians getting their money's worth?

According to Professor Ralph Reiland of Robert Morris University, the evidence to support a pay raise is weak. Reiland points out that a 2004 Cato Institute study shows the state's business taxes are second- or third-highest in the nation, and CATO gives the state's lawmakers an "F" grade for controlling spending.

Pennsylvania continues to experience a decline in population and anemic job growth. There are serious transportation and education deficiencies, and the medical malpractice crisis has not been resolved. And, recent attempts to address property tax reform - Act 50, the Homestead Exemption plan, and Act 72, the slot machine legalization - have been obvious failures.

The Pacific Research Institute ranks Pennsylvania 45th among the 50 states in its 2004 Economic Freedom Index, which looks at 100 variables, including tax rates, state spending, environmental regulations, tort laws and the number of governmental agencies.

It appears there is no measure by which Pennsylvania's lawmakers deserve to be the highest-paid in the nation. Clearly, not all the problems in this state are lawmakers' fault, but they have done very little to improve conditions for anyone - other than themselves.

The pay-raise fiasco of 2005 could be a blessing in disguise by shining a spotlight on the arrogance and poor performance of this state's lawmakers. The elections of 2006 will be the time for voters to hold lawmakers accountable.