Reform panel tackles lawmakers perks
HARRISBURG – A House reform panel tackled lawmakers’ perks for the first time Thursday, recommending the public have access to electronic records of lawmakers’ expenditures, eliminating private car leases, and restricting the filing of per diems. But the House Legislative Reform Commission fell short of curbing lawmakers’ use of politically-motivated public service announcements on television and telemarketing calls, though critics labeled them “outrageous” and a “misuse of taxpayer dollars.”
The commission held the hearing all morning and into the late afternoon in an effort to get through dozens of proposed changes to the House rules before a March 12 deadline.
On that date, the full House is expected to take up the commission’s recommendations for a final vote, which would represent the first codified changes to the way the chamber conducts business since the infamous 2005 pay raise debacle.
The focus on lawmakers’ perks and expenditures was an unusually personal topic for the 24-member commission, comprised of half Republicans and half Democrats. Lawmakers were put into the position of having to defend or criticize the methods by which they operate and which have drawn so much public ire.
Citizens have been pummeling the commission with e-mail, sending more than 19,000 comments about legislative perks since the commission began its work in late January.
According to a graphic the commission released, the top issues in public comments were taxpayer-funded per diems, pensions, and cars lawmakers receive.
The proposals the commission took up, however, did not aim at the heart of eliminating or substantially curbing those benefits.
Probably the most dramatic change was Rep. Tim Mahoney’s proposal to require that electronic documents of legislative expenditures – including those from leadership and lawmakers’ accounts – be made available to citizens so they don’t have to travel to Harrisburg to see how their tax money is being spent.
Currently, anyone requesting information on legislative spending must make an appointment to review records at the House Clerk’s office in the Capitol and is often restricted from photocopying certain documents.
“I think this rule will be one of the biggest defining moments of this commission,” said Mahoney, a Fayette County Democrat. “This will give access to everyone who needs access.”
But Rep. Mark Cohen, a 32-year Philadelphia Democrat and a longtime member of the House Democratic leadership team, launched into a lengthy explanation about why expenditures should not be so easily obtained, saying they are not “vital information.”
“It’s a wonderful source of gossip – what different water cooler bills are, who pays the most in utilities,” said Cohen. “Reporters can write endless stories on this.”
Cohen said electronic records would “totally change the nature of public debate about the Legislature” so that it won’t matter where lawmakers stand on issues, but rather what gets spent. He said, “We are moving in the direction of discouraging middle class people from continuing to serve in the state Legislature.”
Rep. Carole Rubley, a Chester County Republican, worried about “protecting sensitive information,” citing a court case concerning taxpayer-subsidized phone records that the Uniontown Herald-Standard filed against former Rep. Larry Roberts.
Mahoney shot back: “We are public servants and we are people who use public money.”
In the end, Cohen was the only ‘no’ vote on that proposal.
The more controversial measure was Rep. Greg Vitali’s failed attempt to prohibit House money from being used in televised public service announcements which also depict a lawmaker’s face or name. The Delaware County Democrat also wanted to ban public financing of telemarketing by House members, except for the purposes of soliciting public opinion.
Vitali said millions of dollars have been spent on public service announcements and telemarketing calls by members seeking name recognition and credit during election years.
“I think we had a quantum leap three election cycles ago from $4,000 newsletters to $100,000 in public air time for members in contested races,” Vitali said.
He said many of the firms doing public service telemarketing calls are the same ones doing campaign calls.
But some members wondered what the difference is between newsletters with photos and names of lawmakers and televised announcements. Cohen again became the most outspoken opponent, calling the proposal an “overreach that will result in a reduction in services to people.”
Rep. Chris Sainato, a Lawrence County Democrat, said the announcements are a replacement for the media’s cuts in disseminating such information.
“They want money,” he said.
The hedging so bothered the commission’s administrator and general counsel, Bob Butera, that he spoke out, though he said he normally wouldn’t do so.
“You’re misreading the public if you think they like these things because they’re terrible” said Butera, a former Republican majority leader in the 1970s. “And they resent it. It’s wrong and you can’t justify spending one dollar [on it].”
A majority, or 14 lawmakers, voted in favor of Vitali’s proposal, but it still failed because of a commission rule requiring a supermajority vote to pass, or nine members from each side of the aisle.
Vitali said he would rework the proposal for the next meeting on Monday.
Among the other measures that passed was Sainato’s proposal to prohibit private car leases. The House currently allows $650 per month for lawmakers to go to private car dealers and rent cars.
Also, they voted to require bonuses and salary information of legislative staff be printed in the annual list of House employees (available to the public). And they voted to restrict to 90 days a lawmaker’s filing of per diems and other expenses. At the end of last year three departing lawmakers cashed in $37,000 in per diems, some dating back to previous terms of office.
The commission’s recommendations still need approval from the 203-member House to become a part of the chamber’s rules.
Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or ahawkes@calkins-media.com