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No more freebies for legislators

3 min read

The threshold for reporting gifts, lodging and other free stuff is too high, leaving state officials too much wiggle room. Want to hear a good one? State Rep. John Bear, a Lancaster County Republican, said he accepted a free trip to Switzerland, valued at $6,500 and paid for by the American Swiss Foundation, because his district was largely settled by Swiss immigrants and because substantial business interests still link our nation with the Nordic skiing Mecca. Right, John.

Not to be outdone, state Rep. Rick Taylor, a Republican from Horsham, said he went on a $4,100 excursion to Turkey at the expense of the American Council of Young Political Leaders so he could broaden his thinking and expose himself to new ideas.

Here’s a new idea, Rick: Don’t accept freebies because they compromise your integrity.

That was the thought behind a requirement that lawmakers file financial interest statements with the state Ethics Commission. Problem is the law doesn’t go far enough. It exempts from reporting gifts worth less than $250 and hospitality and lodging valued at less than $650.

As a result – and by design, perhaps – a comprehensive total of all freebies and gifts accepted by Pennsylvania officials last year is not available. So only about three dozen of the state’s 253 senators and representatives disclosed gifts, trips, meals and other freebies. That leaves a potentially long list of freebies accepted by more than 200 lawmakers out of the public’s view. Still, the tally for the relative few who reported free stuff came to about $60,000, according to the Associated Press.

Explaining his junket to the Middle East, Taylor offered an assurance of good intentions. “You want to make sure that your legislators are working in an open and transparent way, you want to make sure that their motives are pure,” he said. “And I want to say, by far and away, the motives of people are pure.”

Maybe they are. But what would Taylor tell his benefactors if they leaned on him for some sort of legislative favor? Thanks for the free trip – now hit the road?

We suspect not.

How about if the folks at the Erie Yacht Club want something in return for the free yacht club membership, worth $700, that they ladled on Rep. John Hornaman’s plate? Would the representative pass or play?

These are but a few of the favors rendered unto lawmakers. Most we can’t see because they don’t rise to the reporting threshold and therefore haven’t been disclosed. But, think about it, you could spend a weekend at a pretty nice hotel – meals included – and not hit the $650 lodging ceiling. Could such a favor encourage a favor in return? Of course, it could.

And that’s why the reporting cap on favors and freebies ought to be significantly lowered. In fact, Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy rising PA, might be on the mark with his call for a blanket ban on gifts to state officials.

“The people who give these things expect something in return,” Potts says. “Everybody knows it, and they wouldn’t give it if they didn’t get something in return. The only people who are kept in the dark are the citizens.”

There’s no doubt about that. Yet there is plenty of doubt about lawmakers’ motives – no matter what they say. And that’s part of the problem. Giving themselves wiggle room fuels skepticism and damages pubic confidence. And the last thing Pennsylvania lawmakers need what with one scandal after another nipping at their heels, is more doubt about their intentions.

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