3 May—Passing over trivia like Putrid vs. Ukraine and all things good, SCOTUS vs. abortion and the Ninth Amendment, transgender female athletes vs. cisgender female athletes, and invasive human beings vs. native black bears, we come to the disturbing non-news that members of the Connecticut General Assembly are trying once again to give themselves a pay raise.

The whores of Hartford haven’t given themselves a raise since the turn of the century, when they raised their base pay from $21,788 to $28,000 a year. Even when you add the emoluments for various mucky-mucks and assistant mucky-mucks, transportation, and whatever else they can get, Connecticut legislators’ pay is really pretty lousy in the grand scheme of things.

Evidently, our legislators are so desperate that they’re even scheming in an election year, with end-runs like study committees at the very end of the session. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, if an actual pay-raise turned up hidden in the last-minute consent calendar tomorrow, which can be passed without debate and with a single roll-call vote.

The pols insist the low pay—even for a part-time job—is preventing people from serving in the Connecticut General Assembly. If that’s really the situation, then, how come there are so many hard-fought primaries and elections to fill the 36 seats in the Senate and the 151 seats in the House?

Okay, make that good people. You’ve got to raise the pay to attract good people to the CGA. Well, first, if they’re attracted to the job by the money, we certainly don’t want them representing us. And second, more money will also attract more non-good people. QED.

So make it non-wealthy people who won’t be able to serve. There may in fact be a point that wealth of one sort or another or the ability to take time off a regular job (like lawyers and union officers) or to accommodate a schedule to spend time at the Capitol is an advantage. But, through the years, so many senators and representatives, regardless of party affiliation, who are neither wealthy nor so-called professionals have served constituents very well.

There’s also been some talk, but none of if publicly serious, about making the Connecticut General Assembly a full-time legislature, like the ones that screw around in neighboring New York and Massachusetts. Empire State whores get paid $110,000-plus, while their Bay State brethren get a paltry $66,250-plus. I won’t speculate on sources of extra income.

Legislators can’t by law vote to raise their pay for that same term. So any increases they vote to give themselves today or tomorrow will not take effect till the next term. Even though this is an election year, Ned Lamont is sure to sign on, just as the Democratic legislators signed on to his largess for state employees. Legislators are themselves state employees, after all. Since most of the CGA will be returning next year, by the way, they will in essence be voting to raise their own pay.

Our own Rep. David T. Wilson, who is retiring after three terms diligently serving his constituents in the 66^th District, is mentioned in this morning’s Republican-American as one of the lawmakers who claim that “low compensation had contributed to their decisions to retire.” Maybe so, but David has promised in his three campaigns that he’d serve a maximum of three terms. And David T. Wilson is a man of his word . . .