Restoring Faith in Pennsylvania Government
Enact Lobbyist Disclosure
*Effective Lobbyist Disclosure should be enacted immediately.
Reform of House Committees
*Term Limits--Chair can serve no more than three consecutive terms on same committee, similar to Contract with America provisions.
*Committee Chairs would appoint Vice Chairs and Sub Committee Chairmen and Subcommittee Members.
*All bills must be reviewed and voted on by appropriate subcommittee before being considered by full committee unless legislation is merely being referred to another committee.
Rules Committee Restructuring
*Prohibit substantive amendments.
Lame Duck Session
*Evaluate the desirability of conducting session during the post election period, before adjournment sine die.
*Explore reforms limiting purpose and scope of such session or its complete elimination.
Constitutional Issues--Legislative and Judicial
*Review constitutional issues as addressed in House Bill 1995 (Constitutional Convention legislation), and propose and review individual bills as appropriate. Constitutional Convention should be of limited purpose.
*Specific Reform Issues
*Legislature Reform: Establish a process to review and reduce the number of legislative districts.
*Judicial Reform: Power of Supreme Court to make rules governing practice of law (See Empower PA and House Bill 1995). Judicial Vacancies, Qualifications of Judges, Appointment/Special Elections, Article V of Pennsylvania Constitution.
Gambling Reforms
*Close 1% legislator ownership loophole.
*Eliminate in state distributor requirement.
*Broaden jurisdiction of state Attorney General.
*Require state police to do background checks.
*Prohibit campaign contributions, political fundraising and political activity for candidates--like other state employees.
*Prohibit slot parlors in Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs) (House Bill 2058).
Spending Accountability
*Review Commonwealth Finance Authority accountability--list of projects funded and amount spent.
*Review of Commonwealth Debt--R-CAP, CFA, DCED.
*Performance Based Budgeting--The objection is a budget plan that bases resource needs on achieving quantified outcomes in a strategic plan agreed upon by agencies and Legislature.
Source: http://www.stansaylor.com/issues.htm
