Pa. lawmakers’ pay increase kicks in; 2 elected to higher office without ‘double dipping’

Salaries for Pennsylvania lawmakers jumped Thursday when an automatic 7.8% pay increase took effect, the largest in over a quarter century.

Two sitting lawmakers, who ran in simultaneously for other offices, will be getting the legislative pay raise, albeit briefly, before taking more lucrative elected posts next month.

Allegheny County Reps. Summer Lee and Austin Davis won re-election and election to higher offices, but neither will be double dipping.

Lee was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and Davis as lieutenant governor to Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro.

House Comptroller Jennifer Benko said both are required by law to be paid their state legislative compensation once their election is certified and they are in compliance with the campaign finance reporting laws.

That means that they, along with their other rank-and-file state legislative colleagues, began earning a yearly salary to $102,844, as a result of a law that ties legislative pay to inflation. That salary is up from $95,432. Legislative leaders earn more.

Neither Lee nor Davis are double dipping; their state House compensation stops once an official resignation from office is received, Benko said.

Lee’s first congressional paycheck won’t be issued until Feb. 1, said Dan Weiser, a spokesman for the U.S. House’s Office of the Chief Administrator.

Her resignation from the state House will likely come on Jan. 3 when she takes the oath of office for her congressional seat, which then makes her eligible for the $174,000-a-year salary rank-and-file members of Congress are paid.

A message left for Lee on Thursday was not returned. An aide said she was in a training session in Washington, D.C.

Davis won’t be sworn in as lieutenant governor until Jan.17, when his executive branch salary of about $192,900 kicks in. He also did not return a call seeking comment.

Benko said members are required to reimburse the House a prorated share of their monthly pay for the days remaining after their resignation.

The only other member of the General Assembly re-elected for a seat they won’t fill was the late Rep. Tony DeLuca. But Benko said her office hasn’t issued his compensation since his passing on Oct. 9.