Centre Daily Times (State College), Jan. 14

Time for real reform

Will 2008 be the year of real reform in Harrisburg?

Some legislators might take issue with that question, saying 2007 was indeed the year of reform. Consider these comments:

“I believe we had more reform in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the last 12 months than we have since the War of 1812,” House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, told the Associated Press last month.

And here’s what Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said: “We have a much different process than when I first got here. It’s much more open, it’s much more transparent, it’s much more deliberate, it’s easier for people to follow, if they care to follow it.”

We can’t really pass judgment on 1812, but we have been around long enough to observe the process. And yes, the internal workings of the House and Senate have improved.

Legislators can take credit for procedural changes that allow rank-and-file lawmakers time to know what they’re voting on, and eliminate any chance of middle-of-the-night votes on pay raises or anything else.

But is that real reform, as seen by Pennsylvanians away from the Capitol? We think not.

Neither does Terry Madonna, a professor and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster and a close observer of all things Harrisburg.

“They did no heavy lifting,” Madonna told the Associated Press. “If they’ve done anything, the voters have missed it.”

That brings us to 2008, an election year that starts with legislative stalemates on key issues and the news that at least 19 legislators say they won’t seek re-election.

Veteran state Rep. Fred McIlhattan, a Republican representing Clarion County and parts of Armstrong County, last week became the latest to announce retirement at year’s end.

Fewer lawmakers will leave this year than the 31 lawmakers who left office in 2006, the election year after the pay-raise issue sparked voter anger. Pennsylvania voters ousted 24 incumbents that year, too, sending to the Capitol a bunch of new faces who promised to work to make government more open and responsive.

But two years later, we’re still waiting for reformers to deliver.

They can start immediately upon return by approving real open-records reform. You’ll recall that the House and Senate both passed legislation in December that would overturn the current assumption of the law and declare all records public beyond certain exceptions. The legislation too would expand the law to include records of the legislative and judicial branches and more.

There are differences in the two versions — for example, whether birth dates and telephone numbers should be kept secret — and the question is whether those differences will be ironed out to bring real change.

Other measures should include elusive campaign-finance reform and real work on resolving the stalemate over a state ban on smoking. As is the case of open-records reform, both chambers approved their own version of a smoking ban — last July.

Reformers are optimistic. Just listen to Rep. David Steil, R-Bucks, co-chairman of the Legislative Reform Commission: “I think that people may get religion again.”

Religion ... reform. ... Somehow Harrisburg needs to restore faith and trust in government.

Seems like 2008 is the perfect time. Voters, are you watching?

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