Addison Dem bemoans failure to override legislative pay hike veto “on behalf of our future sisters in the Legislature”
by Kolby LaMarche
As members of the Vermont General Assembly retreat from a brief veto session, many of them return home singing a lullaby of accomplishment with a sprinkle of delusion. It seems they’ve mastered the art of self-deception, taking pride in their botched attempt at governance as a super majority while the real issues remained unattended.
For Senator Ruth Hardy, the return home carries a truly somber tone. It isn’t simply because 161,000 poor and low-income Vermonters still lack true justice. It’s not because of the 800 individuals she lent a hand in evicting from the GA program, now stranded without access to necessary support programs and shelter. It’s not solely because impoverished Vermont families are burdened with home energy costs five times the national average. And certainly not because of the impact of SNAP cuts, that is food assistance, on 41,316 Vermonters.
No, the source of her despondency is vastly more important: the denial of the legislative double pay increase.
Hardy centered her frustrations in comments given to VTDigger, saying “Women make, what is it, 82 cents on the dollar or so, compared to men. And so, even though we weren’t asking for a pay raise for ourselves, to be able to do it on behalf of our future sisters in the Legislature meant a lot to all of us.”
Just two paragraphs before the comment above, Hardy talks about the “optics”. In one breath, Hardy emphasizes the difficulty of optics when considering a pay increase, and in the next breath, she throws optics completely out the window by interjecting an irrelevant gender pay gap argument. Her feeble attempt to intertwine these unrelated issues reeks of a desperate ploy to gain sympathy. I mean, I doubt very heavily that the State of Vermont pays Senator Phil Baruth one whole dollar for every 82 cents given to Hardy.
You want to fight the gender pay gap, you want to raise legislative pay so more Vermonters with low-socioeconomic backgrounds can participate, fine. But to attempt to do it during a session such as this, a session of trauma and inhumanity on many fronts, and then gripe about the fact you didn’t get the double pay increase is, well I don’t know, just a bit…optically challenging?
Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche weekly.
Categories: Commentary
Cry me a river!
There is no such thing as gender pay gap. Since she probably can’t define what a woman is her gender pay gap theory is double nonsense.
Yeah well all the sane people know that the “wage gap” is disingenuous garbage and that the vt legislature does nothing but cause us problems. Paying the problem causers more money doesn’t seem logical to me.
Arrogant, blind, out of touch, out of her mind, pity party…. (please say with your whiniest voice) “its for our FUTURE sisters!!” Whaaaaaa. I definitely need some hip waders to wear DAILY in Vermont with the loads of feces that are being shoveled out to the public from these brainless legislators. Every single woman in the legislature is paid .82 cents for every dollar every man is paid??? So the raise was only for the female sex? Only those with XX chromosomes? Isn’t that, um, well, you know. IF YOU, Ms, Hardy, haven’t been paid what you feel is fair, there are avenues to pursue that DO NOT include taxing the pajamas out of ordinary people trying to keep a roof overhead and food on the table. SHAME ON YOU for even supporting this with all the other taxes you’ve supported piled on, including the .05 cent payroll tax for childcare that is passed out even to people making over 170k,10 times what I make. Thanks for nothing. DO BETTER Ms Hardy. The “wage gap” is just another lie. I STRONGLY suggest, if you have difficulty with your legislative position, resign, or better yet, bring a bill to shorten the legislative session and hold it only every other year. Maybe you wouldn’t feel so reliant on the fee you receive for your PUBLIC SERVICE. There, fixed it for you.
Ruth Hardy is from the Ithica region of New York . Her father, Robert Hardy, Jr. served 30 years as an Administrative Law Judge for New York State Dept of Labor. Ruth “received a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from Oberlin College in 1992 and in 1996 she received a Master of Public Affairs degree from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and specialized in education issues. Hardy moved to East Middlebury, Vermont in 2002. “Hardy served as executive director of the Open Door Clinic in Middlebury, Vermont. In addition, she worked as assistant budget director at Middlebury College, and director of government grants at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. She also served as executive director of Emerge Vermont, which recruits and trains women to run for public office.”
I encourage all to review the website of Emerge Vermont. Also, how many “women” representatives are directly connected or descendants of Planned Parenthood? Trained career grifters courtesy of NWO petri-dish univerisities, NGO’s. and non-profits. In my opinion, it appears the witches coven has their own training facility and internships set up and fully funded for their nefarious, deceptive agendas.
If Legislators want to double their pay, all the have to do is cut the length of the legislative session in half.
Toborg is correct. Cut the session in half or meet only every other year. As to Ms, Hardy, Moore is right on, “cry me a river” , talk about elitism, Hardy fits the definition.
In the real world, a person normally gets pay raises based on merit and performance. With Vermont being the 4th highest taxed burdened state, 47th lowest in economic outlook, and the 44th worst in most effective use of taxpayers’ dollars, Ms Hardy you would not get a raise, but more likely be fired!