WAMs - The Highest Cost of Corruption
email from Democracy Rising Pennsylvania 6/30/09
Last week’s back-and-forth between Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders somehow walked around Walking Around Money, or WAMs. This was especially curious because Associated Press Capitol reporter Marc Levy’s three-part series ( click here ) put the matter front and center. Yet high-profile interviews never touched on spending that, according to Capitol insiders, amounts to $750 million in the current year’s budget.
A few reporters questioned the $201 million surplus in legislative accounts, but none pressed the case to find out why lawmakers think it’s fair to keep a 67% percent surplus while telling school districts that they should use their capped 8% reserve to balance the budget. Or why the executive and judicial branches must shut down or endure payless paydays while lawmakers and their staff roll merrily along.
Add the surplus and WAMs, and you get close to $1 billion in dubious spending and possible savings that could help to resolve this year’s budget dilemma. Read more »
Posted: July 1st, 2009 under Economy, Labor, Tax, Government - PA.
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