For the past five years, Pennsylvania residents haven’t had to worry about state lawmakers approving a middle-of-the-night pay raise for themselves. And, it will be a long time before the General Assembly considers a repeat of its July 2005 middle-of-the-night greedfest giving lawmakers raises of up to 54 percent.

Meanwhile, it’s unlikely that any future Keystone State governor will become party to such an affront to state taxpayers, as Gov. Ed Rendell allowed himself to become.

Twenty-four incumbent lawmakers were deservedly voted out of office in 2006 as a result of the 2005 pay-raise action, even though the raise was repealed before the 2006 elections. Now, Rendell, who will turn over the governorship to Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett on Jan. 18, acknowledges that signing the pay-raise bill was the biggest mistake of his eight-year tenure.

Plenty of state residents aren’t fond of Rendell for a number of reasons, and his pay-raise signature isn’t the only reason for anti-Rendell sentiment. More state taxpayers are critical of him for budget battles he waged against the Legislature and for some of his spending decisions, including major increases in state borrowing.

However, as Rendell acknowledges, the pay-raise signature was a significant blemish on his record — one that, at least to the casual observer, didn’t reward him with the level of cooperation from the Republican-controlled Legislature that Rendell, a Democrat, might have hoped to receive.

And, no matter how anyone views Rendell, his politics or his tactics, it’s hard to disagree with the outgoing governor’s assessment of policymakers in Washington and in statehouses across the country, that “my business has become a terrible business.”

Referring to the excessive partisanship in Harrisburg and in other capitals around the country, Rendell said, “The first thought of 90 percent of the people in the state capitols is how we screw the other side, not how we benefit the people.”

That’s why so few substantive accomplishments are achieved despite the excessive amount of time Pennsylvania lawmakers spend in Harrisburg.

It’s to be hoped that the new session of the General Assembly will mark at least the beginning of a new era of statesmanship in state government.

The terrible event in Arizona over the weekend has caused many people to ponder the vitriolic tone surrounding so much public debate.

People serving in Pennsylvania government need to ask themselves whether they really are committed to giving state taxpayers their money’s worth, instead of just playing politics.

Voters didn’t elect them to boost their own self-interests, but to work on behalf of the best interests of the commonwealth and its people. Too often, they appear to be motivated by their own self-interests — political or financial.

If there’s anything good to be said about the 2005 pay-raise vote and Rendell’s signature, it’s that the actions have ensured that they won’t be repeated anytime soon. More people are paying attention now.

Unfortunately, they still have a serious basis for worry about the $4 billion budget hole that Rendell will be handing over to Corbett a week from today.