Farmers sour over House speaker's pay raise comments

Farmers sour over House speaker's pay raise comments

CONESTOGA, Pa. (AP) -- Dean Weidman, operations manager at one of Lancaster County's largest dairy farms, was puzzled by House Speaker John M. Perzel's claim that immigrant workers who milk cows make as much as $55,000 a year.

But he broke into a grin when informed that Perzel is from Philadelphia, the state's largest city.

"That explains it," he said.

Perzel's comments about the milkers in Lancaster County, which he made while trying to defend the legislative pay raise Saturday at a meeting of the Republican State Committee in Harrisburg, has prompted numerous rebuttals from people in the dairy industry.

Tom Frey, the owner of Frey Dairy Farms Inc. in Conestoga, where Weidman works, said immigrant milkers on his Lancaster County farm put in 11 hours a day milking the 1,200 cows. They make less than $35,000, he said.

"We appreciate their help, but it's not $50,000," he said. "That's silly."

Perzel's own raise was more than the Frey milkers make -- $36,830 or 34 percent -- and it pushed his annual salary to $145,554.

"Come on. This is agriculture," said Michael Evanish, manager of business services for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. "In ag, you can't afford to pay that kind of money."

The legislative pay raise, part of a law passed in the pre-dawn hours of July 7 without debate or public notice, increased Pennsylvania's base legislative salary by 16 percent to $81,050 -- second-highest in the country. Although the state constitution bars legislators from collecting salary increases during the same term they are approved, most lawmakers decided to take the money right away anyway through special payments called "unvouchered expenses."

"I think the speaker should offer an apology," said Larry Breech, president of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union, which represents about 1,400 people who are mostly involved in family farming. "It's like he's saying, here is somebody in agriculture without an education who makes all kind of money, so we are justified in asking for more."

Perzel said he got his figures from an old friend, former Rep. John Barley of Lancaster County, a former dairyman who now helps farmers with their business plans.

Barley said he stands by his numbers. He said some milkers make $14 an hour and work 70 hours a week for 52 weeks a year, producing an annual income of nearly $51,000 before taking into account bonuses and holiday pay.

"There are quite a few making that much," he said.

Barley said he relayed the information to Perzel because he felt lawmakers are being unfairly criticized over the pay raise.

"A dairy-farm worker may step in it every now and then, but he's not getting it thrown at him the way legislators are," he said.

Perzel also stood by his comments Tuesday, although he could not name and said he did not know any immigrant dairy worker who makes more than $50,000.

----------------------------------------- © 2005 Centre Daily Times

Source: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/12642838.htm

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