Pennsylvania's Republican senators renew push for reform
January 22, 2009 State government | SB 101 Sunshine Act Amendment | SB 107 Salary Information Act | SB 105 Taxpayer Transparency Act
By RICHARD FELLINGER
(Chambersburg) Public Opinion Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Senate Republicans launched a new effort Wednesday to enact 10 reform bills that died last term.
They include a proposal to ban bonuses to state employees, sponsored by Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, whose district stretches to Fulton County.
Other bills call for posting state salaries online [SB 107], ending "lame-duck" sessions after an election, and setting new criteria for awarding government consulting contracts.
Another would increase penalties for public officials who violate the state's Open Meetings Law by setting fines up to $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 for a subsequent violation. [SB 101]
A gaggle of Senate Republicans, who control their chamber, conducted a Capitol news conference to promote the package and announced plans to vote on all 10 bills by the end of March.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, promised that "you will hear the theme of government accountability from our caucus all session long."
Freshman Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Chambersburg, whose district stretches to Adams and western York counties, attended Wednesday's news conference and said he backs all 10 bills.
Alloway said he'd like to tackle some reforms that are not part of the package, such as a smaller legislature, but called the 10-bill package a good start.
"This is stuff that there's bipartisan agreement on that we can get done without a big fight. Let's get this done and move on," Alloway said.
Nine proposals in the package cleared the Senate last term but languished in the House.
Pileggi said his caucus' early push for the package should improve each bill's chances of becoming law. The 2009-10 term began Jan. 6 and runs through November of next year.
Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, chair of the House State Government Committee, said there's a lot of unfinished business her committee will take up this term and she's "very interested" in the concepts pushed by the Senate GOP.
"We will look at them and take them all seriously," Josephs said.
Some hot-button reform proposals are lacking from the Senate package.
They include campaign-finance reform, changes in the way legislative districts are drawn after each Census and changes in the way pay and benefits are set for top state officials.
Pileggi said the 10 bills his caucus is pushing now are ones with broad bipartisan support and discussions on other possible reforms will continue.
The reform bills
(Chambersburg) Public Opinion Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Senate Republicans launched a new effort Wednesday to enact 10 reform bills that died last term.
They include a proposal to ban bonuses to state employees, sponsored by Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, whose district stretches to Fulton County.
Other bills call for posting state salaries online [SB 107], ending "lame-duck" sessions after an election, and setting new criteria for awarding government consulting contracts.
Another would increase penalties for public officials who violate the state's Open Meetings Law by setting fines up to $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 for a subsequent violation. [SB 101]
A gaggle of Senate Republicans, who control their chamber, conducted a Capitol news conference to promote the package and announced plans to vote on all 10 bills by the end of March.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, promised that "you will hear the theme of government accountability from our caucus all session long."
Freshman Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Chambersburg, whose district stretches to Adams and western York counties, attended Wednesday's news conference and said he backs all 10 bills.
Alloway said he'd like to tackle some reforms that are not part of the package, such as a smaller legislature, but called the 10-bill package a good start.
"This is stuff that there's bipartisan agreement on that we can get done without a big fight. Let's get this done and move on," Alloway said.
Nine proposals in the package cleared the Senate last term but languished in the House.
Pileggi said his caucus' early push for the package should improve each bill's chances of becoming law. The 2009-10 term began Jan. 6 and runs through November of next year.
Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, chair of the House State Government Committee, said there's a lot of unfinished business her committee will take up this term and she's "very interested" in the concepts pushed by the Senate GOP.
"We will look at them and take them all seriously," Josephs said.
Some hot-button reform proposals are lacking from the Senate package.
They include campaign-finance reform, changes in the way legislative districts are drawn after each Census and changes in the way pay and benefits are set for top state officials.
Pileggi said the 10 bills his caucus is pushing now are ones with broad bipartisan support and discussions on other possible reforms will continue.
The reform bills
- Increased penalties for violating state Open Meetings Law [SB 101]
- New criteria for awarding government consulting contracts [SB 102]
- Ban bonuses for state employees
- New rules for using state-owned vehicles [SB 104]
- Tagline on state ads saying, "Paid for with Pennsylvania Taxpayer Dollars" [SB 109]
- Create searchable online state budget database [SB 105]
- Eliminate "lame-duck" legislative sessions after elections
- Post state salary information online [SB 107]
- Allow governor to fill vacancy for lieutenant governor
- New record-keeping and access rules for state plane logs [SB 110]
