HARRISBURG -- State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, isn't giving up the fight to cancel pay raises for judges.
Despite a state Supreme Court ruling last week reinstating the raises for 1,045 state judges, Mr. Metcalfe said today he is seeking co-sponsors for a new bill aimed at repealing the judges' raises, although he admits it will take up to 10 years to do it.
He said his bill would return the salary of each member of the judicial branch to the level it was at on July 1, 2005 -- before Act 44, the pay raise, was enacted on July 7, 2005.
Judges would keep their current higher salaries, as permitted by last week's court decision. However, once a judge was re-elected or retained in a 10-year retention election, that judge's salary would revert to where it was on July 1, 2005.
Mr. Metcalfe said the Legislature isn't allowed to reduce a judge's salary in mid-term, but he contended his new bill doesn't do that.
For example, he said, Supreme Court Justice Thomas Saylor faces a retention election in November 2007. If he wins, his salary would revert to what is was on July 1, 2005, prior to the pay-raise bill being approved.
The pay-raise bill covered all three branches of government, legislators, judges and some members of the executive branch. The raises for all three branches were canceled in November 2005. The Supreme Court last week restored raises for only the judges.
It isn't known yet if the Legislature would vote on Mr. Metcalfe's bill before it adjourns Nov. 30.
First Published: September 19, 2006, 4:00 a.m.