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"Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees;
and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people." - Henry Clay, 1829
"Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees;
and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people." - Henry Clay, 1829
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NewsDRPA approves reform measuresFrom the Philadelphia Inquirer: The board of the DRPA on Wednesday toughened conflict-of-interest and other rules before going into closed session to decide the fate of Corporate Secretary John Lawless. After meeting for almost three hours, board members voted to merge the position of corporate secretary with the position of general counsel, which is held by Richard Brown. The move leaves Lawless without a DRPA job; he said after the meeting he expects to sue the agency. Democracy Rising PA: Integrity Questionnaire UpdateWe have received a lot of email about this year’s Integrity Questionnaire and the lack of response by Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett. All we can tell you is that the Corbett campaign continues to say they will respond. Democracy Rising PA and Rock the Capital sent the questionnaire on July 6 and asked for responses by August 1. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato responded on August 2. Click here to read the questionnaire and Onorato’s responses. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide the perspectives of other candidates for governor from the Green Party, the Libertarian Party and the TEA Party. All three candidates withdrew when their petitions were challenged. This raises the perennial issue of how hard it is for candidates other than Republicans and Democrats to get on the ballot. This year, candidates for the two major parties needed only 2,000 signatures on nominating petitions. Other candidates needed more than 16,000. DR’s Tim Potts will participate in a news conference on Monday in the capitol along with many other groups who are seeking a level playing field for all who want to become candidates for public office. Pennsylvania Legislators Flying a Too-Friendly Sky?From the Philadelphia Weekly Press: Between 2007 and 2009, Pennsylvania’s state legislators spent $52,564.80 on flights within the state and to special legislative conferences and presentations around the country. Some waited until the day beforehand to book their flights, and some lacked receipts for flights costing hundreds of dollars. Of the 59 state legislators who requested reimbursement, more than $42,000 was spent by 42 Democrats in the House and Senate, and 17 Republicans spent a little under $12,300. State legislators are granted daily per diems and expense reimbursements as part of their compensation package, but oversight and control of transportation spending for state legislators is limited, at best. According to state Senate rules, "travel allowances or reimbursements may be paid to a Member who is engaged in travel in the performance of legislative duties," but what constitutes legislative activity is unclear, such as how many legislative conferences a member may attend in a single year or what counts as a legislative conference. House rules are even less clear, with members’ trips being decided on a case-by-case basis. Onorato Responds to Integrity QuestionnaireDemocracy Rising Pennsylvania
Two weeks ago today, August 2, Rock the Capital and Democracy Rising PA received the responses of Dan Onorato, the Democratic candidate for governor, to their joint questionnaire on matters of public integrity. We asked for responses by August 1. In a three-part questionnaire, the groups asked a dozen questions about the reforms recommended by the 28th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury; WAMs, or Walking Around Money, that fuels lawmakers' pet projects; and the legislature's surplus of $180 million, which is expected to grow to more than $200 million as a result of this year's budget. With the agreement of the Onorato campaign, we have not released the responses while awaiting responses from Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor. On several occasions, the Corbett campaigned has assured us that Corbett’s responses are forthcoming. We will publish them as soon as they arrive. In the meantime, we believe it is only fair to share Onorato’s timely response with our members. Click here to read the questions and Onorato’s responses. Or visit the DR web site. There's a link on the home page. Does Pennsylvania need a lieutenant governor?From the Patriot News: Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor has the best office in the state Capitol. Located above the main entrance, the powerfully plush digs include a colonnaded balcony with a commanding view down State Street to the Susquehanna River. The late Catherine Baker Knoll used to quip that it was compensation for being largely irrelevant. Although taxpayers spend an average of $1.13 million a year to staff the office, the duties of the lieutenant governor are few: chair a local government advisory board with no power, sit on an emergency management panel convened only after the governor has declared an emergency, review applications for pardons and pass them along to the boss, preside over the Senate and wait for the governor to fall over dead. Rep's robocall a rub with opponentFrom ABC27: You've no doubt received phone calls from politicians. They might bother you during dinner or interrupt family time. It might also irritate you to know that you may be paying for them. Gene Stilp is a Democrat running for a state representative of Dauphin County. He says he was shocked last week when his opponent, Republican Sue Helm, left a message on his home answering machine. "It's an illegal use, in my mind, of the taxpayers money," Stilp said. Helm's voice was sent out to nearly 17,000 constituents to invite them to a town hall conference call. Helm says such messages, sometimes called robocalls, are important. Legislative sentry: Public Integrity Commission makes senseFrom the Patriot News: The black mark on the Legislature from the criminal charges and convictions of the last few years has shaken up the way many lawmakers do business. Calls for reform by legislative leaders echo throughout the Capitol. But in a few years, if there are no more Bonusgate charges or other scandals, some lawmakers might be tempted to skirt the law again. That’s why an idea being floated by House members to set up a new system to safeguard against wrongdoing makes sense. With bipartisan support, Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York County, and Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester County, want to create a Public Integrity Commission that would monitor and investigate public officials in the Legislature, Governor’s Office and judiciary. Marsico Urges Governor to Cut WAMS not JobsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Rep. Ron Marsico (R-Lower Paxton) recently joined a group of legislators in urging the governor to use his executive authority in order to eliminate all discretionary grant programs, sometimes referred to as Walking Around Money (WAMs), in order to address a $255 million hole in the state budget: “With the recent news of Pennsylvania most likely receiving only a portion of federal funding, we recognize that we will need to address this shortfall in some responsible manner. The governor assumed that we would be getting $850 million and it looks like we will only be receiving $595 million. “Instead of suggesting layoffs or cutting vital areas of the budget, House Republicans are suggesting that the governor seriously consider eliminating funding for grants that are not fundamental to maintaining the health and welfare of our Pennsylvanians. If these grants were eliminated, we would save almost $100 million. “I realize that these grants help to fund some worthwhile projects. However, these projects are determined by the Legislature, not the taxpayers. Some of these projects have little to no effect on the majority of Pennsylvanians. The governor has proposed cutting something as vital as education, an area of the budget that affects many people across our Commonwealth, before cutting WAMS. I simply do not understand this mentality. “I truly hope that the governor will consider this valuable proposal. This is simply not a time to be spending millions of dollars in discretionary monies. We need to do what is right for our taxpayers and that means we need to get rid of unnecessary spending.” Rep. Ronald Marsico Cut WAMs First, Schroder, Lawmakers SayRep. Curt Schroder 155th District FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HARRISBURG - As the governor and legislative leaders continue discussions about budget cuts necessitated by the reduction in expected federal Medicaid assistance (FMAP) funding, Rep. Curt Schroder (R-East Brandywine) and 26 fellow Republican lawmakers said that discretionary grant funding known as WAMs should be the first thing to go. "WAMs shouldn't have been included in this budget in the first place. They are unessential and take money away from necessary state functions," Schroder said. "The $850 million the governor hoped to receive in FMAP funds also shouldn't have been counted on to balance the budget. It was irresponsible, and I voted against the budget because of it, knowing we would soon be in the position of having to make cuts." In a letter to the governor this week, the lawmakers called for the elimination of WAMs in response to recent action in the U.S. Senate that indicates the state will get $255 million less in FMAP money than the governor anticipated. "Despite the fact we don't have to make the full $850 million in cuts, the first thing I hear the governor and lawmakers are talking about cutting is education funding, and that is just wrong," Schroder said. "There is in the vicinity of $100 million worth of WAMs in this budget and they absolutely, positively must be the first thing to go." Schroder specifically identified the WAM line items in the budget as follows:
In early July, as part of the state budget process, Schroder attempted to offer an amendment to the state's Fiscal Code requiring WAMs included in the state Department of Community and Economic Development's (DCED) budget to be the first things cut in the event Congress did not deliver the FMAP money. The measure was defeated by House Democrats. "When red ink drips off every page of the budget, it is inexcusable to have legislative play money to the tune of $100 million in the budget," Schroder said. "I call on the governor to do the right thing and eliminate this unnecessary funding first, before cutting other areas." Governor Rendell Tours State to Highlight State's Transportation Funding CrisisTuesday, Aug. 310 a.m. - Lehigh County - Allentown
2:30 p.m. - Delaware County - Swarthmore 4:30 p.m.- Bucks County - Trevose Wednesday, Aug. 410 a.m. - Lackawanna County - Scranton Tentatively at 11:30 a.m. - Luzerne County - Plains Tentatively at 1:45 p.m. - Columbia County - north of Centralia Tentatively at 4:45 p.m. - Centre County - State College Thursday, Aug. 510 a.m. - Blair County - Altoona Tentatively at 12:15 p.m. - Cambria County - Johnstown Tentatively at 2:15 p.m. - Indiana County - Center Township Tentatively at 4:15 p.m. - Westmoreland County - Manor Friday, Aug. 610 a.m. - Allegheny County - Pittsburgh Tentatively at Noon - Beaver County - Koppel Borough Tentatively at 2 p.m. - Mercer County - Hermitage Tentatively at 4 p.m. - Butler County - Butler 
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