2005 Pennsylvania General Assembly pay raise controversy

In the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed pay increases for state lawmakers, judges, and top executive-branch officials.

Advocacy groups spawned several grass-roots movements, some geared toward voting out incumbents[3] and some seeking support for a Constitutional Convention or a reduction in the size of the legislature.

However, critics noted that Chief Justice Ralph Cappy helped draft the bill and that prior Court opinions upheld such practices.

The November 2006 general election claimed several more members who supported the pay raise, including Republican representatives Gene McGill, Matt Wright, Tom Gannon and Matthew Good and Democrat Veon.

After pleading guilty to two counts of conflict of interest for hiring relatives as "ghost employees," he stopped repayment and was even refunded the amount that he had previously returned.