Dec 11, 2011 4 min read

There was much hoopla last January when Republicans took control of the state House of Representatives along with the governor’s mansion.

Since the GOP already controlled the state senate, it gave the Republicans total control of the legislative agenda.

With one party in control, there was a lot of talk about finally getting things done after years of gridlock between Republicans and Democrats.

The Republicans also vowed to be open and transparent about handling the public’s business.

All this talk, though, has turned out to be just that with little if any substantial results.

First, there’s the issue of the much talked about Marcellus shale legislation. The state House and Senate both passed bills earlier this fall, finally levying an impact fee, also known as a tax, on the Marcellus shale.

While there were substantial differences between the two bills, there seemed to be a good chance that the GOP lawmakers would come to some type of compromise, especially since the House bill mirrored the views of Gov. Tom Corbett.

But sad to say no compromise is in sight, and odds are that nothing will happen before the legislature recesses before the end of the year. Consider that the state Senate has three session days left on the calendar for 2011, while the House only has six days.

We can’t help wondering if the lack of compromise isn’t just a way of avoiding the controversial issue of taxing the Marcellus shale. Perhaps GOP lawmakers are hoping voters preocuppied with getting ready for the holidays won’t notice that nothing is being done on such an important issue.

Certainly a compromise of some sort should have been reached. We favored the Senate’s bill as far as fees since it would raise more money. We also favored the Senate bill’s provision, allowing the PUC to assess that levy, figuring that would eliminate politics that could come into play with the county doing the assessing.

But we also strongly favored the provision in the House bill that would have returned most of the fees to the counties involved in the drilling. That would give residents and officials in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties the resources needed to deal with problems being caused by the drilling.

Most importantly, though, we argued that some type of impact fee or tax was needed. But now even those modest hopes are being dashed. And odds of the legislation being resurrected next year don’t look good, especially with an election year looming on the horizon.

Second, there was the pesky issue of transparency and openness in state government. Consider that Republicans have been working on a new map of Pennsylvania’s 18 congressional districts for months with no details being released.

Now, apparently some sort of plan has finally been worked out, but it’s going to be passed this week without the public scrutiny necessary for such an important issue.

Charles McIlhinney, R-Bucks, chairman of the State Government Committee, told the Associated Press that he hopes to unveil a proposed new map Monday and hold a vote in his committee Tuesday. That would allow the full Senate to send it to the House on Wednesday, the Senate’s last scheduled session day this year.

Apparently the state legislature can act quickly when it wants to, but this is certainly a vital issue that should be considered carefully and debated openly before being approved.

And this is certainly an issue critical to the future of area residents. There has been talk that U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, who represents all of Greene County and parts of Fayette and Washington counties along with six other counties, would have his seat eliminated since he was the newest congressman.

Apparently the Republicans have been working overtime to come with a plan that would force Critz to run against fellow Democrat Jason Altmire of Beaver County.

How such a congressional map would look is mind boggling.

But the Republicans control the legislature, and it’s in their power to determine how the state’s 18 congressional districts will look for the next 10 years. But to act so quickly without getting any public input is beyond the pale.

So, basically nothing’s happened after all the talk by Republicans last January of changing the culture of Harrisburg. The thinking was the Republicans would want to make some real changes in Harrisburg after being out of power for eight years.

But apparently it’s more important for them to serve themselves rather than serve the residents they’re elected to represent.