A Closer Look at the Legislative Surplus
December 28th, 2008 by 2CDC
email from Democracy Rising Pennsylvania, 12/28/08
One of our faithful correspondents concludes his emails with a quote attributed to Thomas Pynchon: “If they can keep you asking the wrong questions, they never have to worry about the right answers.”
This insight is bound to arise when talking about the recently released audit of the General Assembly. Without question, lawmakers have amassed a huge, ongoing surplus. Depending on how you calculate it, the surplus on June 30 was either $237.4 million (down $5 million from the previous year’s surplus) or $200.5 million (down $11 million).
The reason for the difference is that last year the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission changed its accounting practices. The change subtracts funds committed but not paid at the end of the year from the surplus on hand at the end of the year, thereby reducing the surplus shown on the books.
This does not tell the full story, though, because there are “benefits accounts” that also have growing surpluses. Last year, those House and Senate accounts grew a combined 23% to an additional $6.9 million. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Economy, Labor, Tax, PA politics | Comments Off
