Burns to donate automatic COLA to local charities
Rep. Frank Burns November 27, 2017 | 11:30 AM
EBENSBURG, Nov. 27 – As he’s voluntarily done every year, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, said he plans to once again donate the mandatory cost-of-living increase, or COLA, to local charities.
“As a fiscally conservative representative who understands that our region is struggling and people are cutting back to make ends meet, I believe that the best use of this mandatory pay increase is to return it to the communities I serve,” Burns said.
As prescribed by a law passed long before Burns was elected, state officials automatically receive a COLA increase, based on a cost-of-living index, effective Jan. 1.
This year and in previous budget impasses, Burns also refused to accept a state paycheck until the annual state budget was finalized. He said that he’s traditionally gone without a paycheck as long as the state budget is unfinished, most notably during the nine-month impasse of 2015-16, as well as donated his automatic COLA to local charities, because of a strong belief that legislators should set an example.
“I have always worked to put taxpayers first,” Burns said. “The legislature has a lot more work to do in order to make the state more accountable to taxpayers. Donating this mandatory increase is the right thing to do.”