RSS Feed
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
What Others Say Beware the final minutes of any session of the Legislature! Unexpected things happen, often to the detriment of the public. Like what happened late Thursday [the last day of the session]. Without fanfare, without debate, with only a voice vote so you can't hold any individual responsible, the Alabama Senate gave itself some really cheap health insurance. By adopting the resolution offered by Sen. E.B. McClain, D-Midfield, in the waning moments of the session, senators are now eligible for reduced rates on state employee health insurance. Even though they supposedly work part time as public servants, the senators, thanks to McClain's resolution, have classified themselves as state employees for insurance purposes. Previously, members of the Legislature could buy state insurance, but they had to pay full cost of the coverage. That runs to about $690 a month for a family policy. Under the new classification, a senator can get that same coverage for $180 a month - plus $22 more a month if he or she smokes. Or - and here's the big one - a senator can get single coverage and pay absolutely nothing (or just $22 if he or she is a smoker). That's the way the coverage costs are set up for state workers, and that's potentially what senators could be paying. And it gets better: State law also allows lawmakers to request insurance as a group. And, if the senators decided to, they could have taxpayers pick up the tab for the family policies. Exactly how the Senate plans to implement the system - and who pays for what - remains unclear. But based on the fact that this same Senate (along with the House) unexpectedly gave itself what amounted to a 62 percent pay raise when the session began, the smart money says the senators plan to pay as little out of pocket as possible. And who will pick up that tab? The citizens of Alabama. Why didn't the members of the House come up with a similar lastminute gimmick? Maybe they are more responsible to the public they represent. Or maybe they are kicking themselves for not thinking up something along the same lines. Voters who wonder how they managed to miss the campaign promises by the senators that they would raise their pay and cut their health insurance costs needn't worry that they overlooked something. Neither of these issues made the ads or speeches of any senator we can find But it's not difficult to predict what the next perk is in legislators' hearts. Don't be surprised if legislative pensions make another showing in the next session. Maybe so early that opposition can't be mobilized. Maybe so late that no one is watching. That's about all that's left for those who represent the people in Montgomery to fill out their financial portfolios.
The Huntsville Times
|
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
