More Pennsylvanians are losing jobs. The number of families on food stamps is at an all-time high. Many have lost their homes.
Even as signs of the difficult economy abound, more employees of the Pennsylvania Legislature are receiving six-figure salaries.
A Patriot-News analysis of the 2009 payroll for legislative staffers shows 83 employees were paid $100,000 or more, 10 more than in 2008.
By comparison, the state’s median household income is $50,173.
House Republican Appropriations Committee executive director Ed Nolan was paid $188,807 in 2009, making him the highest-paid legislative staffer.
Second on the list is another member of the House’s minority party: Anthony Aliano, the chief of staff for House Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, who was paid $173,330.
Both were paid more than Gov. Ed Rendell. The governor continues to shun a pay raise he was granted last year and accepts a salary of $170,150, the same amount he earned in 2008.
Nolan and Aliano earned more than every state lawmaker. Rank-and-file lawmakers earn $78,315, while legislative leaders are paid between $89,300 and $122,254.
House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin defended the top caucus staffers’ pay, crediting both for working tirelessly.
Nolan, who has held his current post for five years, came up with new revenue ideas that were incorporated into this year’s budget, Miskin said. Aliano, who has worked in his current position since 2003, has identified ways to operate the caucus for less, Miskin said.
Nolan and Aliano earned more than the Senate’s highest-paid staffer, Stephen MacNett; he was paid $166,216. MacNett is the Senate Republicans’ top legal adviser, a position he has held for 33 of the 44 years he has worked for the chamber.
One government watchdog finds the top salaries of the legislative staffers disturbing in light of spending cuts made in this year’s budget.
Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA noted that $12 million was cut from a program that provides aid to the state’s poorest citizens, including many who are disabled, elderly or blind.
Meanwhile, the Legislature sat on a $200 million reserve and increased the number of high earners on the payroll, he said.
