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Sneaky bill would help politicians, hurt police, fire families

Outgoing Representative Andy Thompson, R-Marietta, was one of three members who this week voted against passing out of committee a proposal to give lawmakers and other executive elected officials a raise. Unfortunately, the raises had been tacked on at the 11th hour to a bill meant to increase death benefits for police officers’ and firefighters’ surviving relatives. It made its way out of committee by a 26-3 vote.

It is a bad look for lawmakers, who may very well have poisoned the original bill — which could be voted on in the Ohio House as early as today.

“Your bill deserved to stand alone and not become a distraction,” Thompson told family members who lost loved ones who were in law enforcement or firefighters. “Your arguments are very worthy.”

Buckeye State lawmakers would like to give themselves raises of 4 percent, 4 percent and 3 percent, over the next three years … and then another 1.75 percent that they would receive over the following six years. They already make $60,584 to start, and that number can go up if they are elected to leadership positions or chosen to run a committee.

Other proposed changes include giving judges, prosecutors and sheriffs a 1.75 percent raise every year through 2028; giving other county officials who did not get a raise for 2019 a 5 percent raise next year and another 5 percent raise in 2020, then 1.75 percent every year through 2028; and giving township officials raises based on the townships’ overall budgets.

That is no small amount of money for Gov. John Kasich to consider, and there is real concern that if the bill should make its way to his desk, he will veto it. Kasich said through a representative that he does not favor pay raises during the final weeks of the legislative session.

Lawmakers know that. It is a shame they seem to have hoped they could force one through on the backs of the relatives of dead police officers and firefighters.

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