Mar 13, 2007 3 min read

By Alison Hawkes For the Herald-Standard

HARRISBURG – On the day the House took up the most significant set of reforms since the 2005 pay raise debacle, reform activists were calling the overhaul of House rules “a moment of truth.”

“Just one year ago rules reforms would have been unthinkable,” said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. “A new day may be dawning in Pennsylvania.”

Still, as the chamber braced itself for an full evening of debate with dozens of proposals, reformers tempered their enthusiasm of what was to come. At a press conference Monday morning, they warned against attempts to weaken a set of more than 30 proposals that the House Legislation Reform Commission is recommending.

Bucks County Rep. David Steil, the Republican co-chairman of the commission, said this was the first set of changes of more to come in the upcoming weeks and months.

“We’re only at step one. We have many steps to go,” said Steil.

Rep. Greg Vitali, a Delaware County Democrat, objected, stressing a need to immediately jump into big ticket changes in state law. He said rules reform was “just scratching the surface.”

“Let’s not do what we’ve done with all other issues – put them further and further into the future,” Vitali said.

Vitali also noted the limitations of rules changes. The House rules, which govern the way the chamber does business, are not permanent. They can change at any time and are typically voted on in whole at the beginning of each two-year term. Also, the chamber can vote to suspend the rules at any time, rendering them inoperative.

“The whole point is, rules can only take you so far,” Vitali said. “That’s why I don’t want you to overemphasize the importance of the rules. Even with solid rules, if members aren’t willing to pause, air it out, force leadership to take time to slow it down, it’s not going to happen.”

But Rep. Curt Schroder, Chester County Republican, said the rules still put more power in the hands of the rank and file members. That’s an important change in the political dynamic, he said.

“Right now the benefit’s with the leadership’s side,” Schroder said. “Putting the right rules in that benefit the members causes leadership to have to jump over a hurdle. Right now it’s the members who have to jump over a hurdle.”

Alison Hawkes can be reached at 717-705-6330 or ahawkes@calkins-media.com