Strickland Declines Pay Raise and Health Insurance
Submitted by Jeff on Tue, 12/18/2007 - 11:53am.
This is a very powerful symbolic statement for an elected official to make.
Gov. Ted Strickland (D) is refusing to accept a $4,000 pay raise for next year to which he is legally entitled. He also plans to pay back the state for his health insurance.
In reporting this item, Mark Niquette points out that Strickland froze the pay of 3,400 nonunion state employees indefinitely, due to tough financial conditions. So Strickland is sharing the pain. And sending a message that he gets it about Ohio's hard times. Can you imagine a GOP elected official doing this?
Strickland used to do it as a Congressman
Strickland voted against inflation-related pay raises for Congress and returned the raises after they passed. He campaigned on his history of not accepting health insurance as a Congressman.
When he voted against the Bush tax cuts, he returned his "tax rebate" to the Treasury Department to be applied to the debt.
So, he has a history of this.
-Modern Esquire