The 2005 pay-raise and the ongoing saga of the Pennsylvania Gaming Act have highlighted the failings of Pennsylvania's General Assembly. Lack of transparency, inaccessible legislative records, lack of public input and the waste of taxpayer dollars have all been highlighted by the press and grassroots organizations in the past few years.
I believe that Pennsylvania's General Assembly should be dedicated, hard working and transparent with the highest ethical standards and I believe we should enact laws that help us obtain these goals:
Currently, there are no campaign contribution limits in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania permitting the influence of special interests over our elected officials (except for a ban on contributions by casino investors and officers):
- Individuals should not be permitted to contribute more than $2500 per calendar year to any candidate, committee or party including a candidate's contribution to his/her own campaign.
- Political Action Committees should not be permitted to contribute more than $10,000 per calendar year to any candidate, committee or party.
Lobbyists have the ability to give gifts, pay for travel and purchase meals for elected officials, which permits greater access and influence. Lobbyists should not be able to buy votes but should only work with the merits of the issue for which they lobby.
- Travel, gifts and meals should be banned and appropriate fines instituted.
Enforcement is the key to every law, including laws on ethics:
- While the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission has the power to investigate ethical violations, impose fines and make recommendations to appropriate law enforcement officials, the Commission is funded at such a level as to make it difficult for them to adequately accomplish its mission. The Commission deserves the funding and tools to be effective.
Because our judges are elected, they are often beholden to special interests or politicians:
- Amend the State Constitution to create an independent board to appoint all judges on the appellate level based on merit rather than party affiliation or political alliances and requiring 2/3 majority for Senate confirmation.
- Permit local municipalities to institute a similar system for judges elected on the local level.
Pennsylvania is one of the few states in the country where the General Assembly is in session following the November general election. This practice permits legislators who are leaving office to pass laws + and to do so without ever being held accountable to the general public:
- The General Assembly should not meet between October 1 and the date of the swearing in of the new Assembly during election years.
In the past, the General Assembly would amend and pass legislation in the same evening. This practice did not permit the public to review or comment on the proposed changes (an example of this practice was the 2006 pay-raise):
- While current rules require a waiting period between final amendment of a bill and its final passage, legislation should be enacted to memorialize this practice.
Pennsylvania's General Assembly is one of the most expensive legislative bodies in the Country:
- A Constitutional Amendment requiring future pay-raises must be approved by the voters of the Commonwealth.
- Elected officials should not be permitted to issue newsletters more than four times a year and no newsletter should be permitted 60 days prior to a primary or general election.
- All taxpayer reimbursed expenses should be readily and easily available for public viewing.
The outside employment of elected officials can cause conflicts of interests and other ethical violations. Currently, officials are only required to disclose outside employment:
- Elected officials with outside employment should disclose the employment, the compensation received and, where appropriate, the services provided for such compensation.
The statements, attendance and voting records of our elected officials is vital to maintain their accountability and the public should be allowed to watch and participate in the legislative process:
- Access to transcripts, reports and voting records of committee meetings and session should be provided electronically and expediently.
- The act of proxy voting, a.k.a. "ghost voting," where elected officials are permitted to vote in committee even though they may not be present for the meeting, must be banned.
- The State's sunshine law should be expanded to include budget negotiations and should be strengthened by providing for specific penalties to be imposed by the Ethics Commission.
Every ten years, after the federal census, legislative districts are adjusted to account for changes in population and guarantee that each legislator represents approximately the same number of constituents + the process is known as reapportionment. Unfortunately, too many legislative districts are gerrymandered to protect incumbent politicians or provide competitive races for the opposing parties.
- The reapportionment process should be guided by a non-partisan, independent committee that guarantees small population variations between districts and respects municipal boundaries.
There are several state agencies and authorities that have little oversight by the General Assembly or the public. Until the early nineties, the legislation that created these agencies included sunset provisions. While few agencies lapsed or were disbanded, several agencies saw dramatic changes and improvements to their operations. However, the enabling legislation for the Sunset provisions has lapsed.
- Re-enact the State's Sunset legislation to guarantee greater oversight of state authorities and agencies.
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