Newly elected Sixth District state Rep. Brad Roae didn’t accept the automatic cost-of-living pay raise all state legislators received Friday.

Roae announced his decision last week before the activist group, Taxpayers and Ratepayers United, had started its campaign to have legislators turn down the raise. Other legislators representing Crawford County haven’t responded to calls for comment on the issue dating back to last week.

“When I filed my paperwork to run for this office, the pay was set at $72,187,” Roae said in a press release. “We campaigned very hard to win the Republican nomination and then the general election, knowing that the rate of pay was $72,187. I agreed to do the job for $72,187.

“Minimum wage earners do not get an automatic cost-of-living adjustment and neither do many other wage earners. Small business owners and farmers do not have a guaranteed cost-of-living adjustment either, and they even see decreases in the salary they can draw some years. Union members fight hard to get increases when their contracts are up. Most of the people I will be representing do not get an automatic cost-of-living adjustment,” he said.

“The Census Bureau information shows that the median household income in Pennsylvania only grew by eight-tenths of 1 percent from 2004 to 2005 to $45,941. The planned cost-of-living adjustment would increase state lawmakers’ pay 1.98 percent to $73,614. I don’t think the increase is necessary. I support repealing the automatic cost-of-living adjustment and requiring lawmakers to vote every two years to set the salary for the next term,” he concluded.

Phone calls dating back to last week to Republican state Rep. Michele Brooks of the 17th District, Republican state Rep. John Evans of the Fifth District and Republican state Sen. Rob Robbins of the 50th District concerning their positions on the issue weren’t returned.

Jane Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at jsmith@meadvilletribune.com