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HARRISBURG -- With a gap between lawmakers and taxpayers as vast as the "Grand Canyon," the General Assembly needs to address the July pay raise before it can regain credibility on other issues such as property tax relief, Sen. Jim Ferlo said Tuesday.

Potential action might include repeal of the 16 to 54 percent pay hike, or legislative reforms such as curbing state pensions, said Ferlo, D-Highland Park.

Ferlo was the first lawmaker to address the pay raise on the Senate floor since its approval July 7. The House returns to session from summer recess on Monday.

Ferlo said the Legislature can't gloss over the salary issue without recognizing the public anger that has since erupted.

Legislators need to be "perceived as not taking care of our immediate self-interest," Ferlo told other senators. Dealing with the issue head-on will permit lawmakers to "get back in some reasonably good standing with those we were elected to serve," he said.

Ferlo, who voted against the pay raise, believes the Legislature needs to take some action even if it doesn't repeal the pay hike.

No senator of either political party responded to Ferlo's impromptu remarks.

Asked if other senators spoke to him afterward, Ferlo said, "No comment."

Legislative leaders such as House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, have said there are no plans to take up a repeal.

Russ Diamond, a Lebanon County businessman with a web site, www.Pacleansweep.com, dedicated to defeating incumbents over the raise issue, said he's disappointed Ferlo and others didn't speak out on July 7.

"But I'm totally disappointed nothing was said after" Ferlo's remarks yesterday, Diamond said. "It's further evidence of the arrogance of our leaders."

Diamond said Ferlo has some credibility on the issue because he previously "expressed his disgust with how things work in Harrisburg."

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