While I support Bill 1954 as a way to reduce third-party meddling,
so-called "stealth legislation" is clearly a bad thing. And the provision of at
Bill some find objectionable did seem to be implemented in a "stealthy" way. So
I endorse the following, and cimmend it to the attention of people interested in
legislative transparency. (Note: Ed Goppelt is the founder of "Hallwatch" -- a
non-partisan website that focuses on local issues.)
Al Krigman
===============================================
In a message dated 1/28/2005 7:29:19 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Dear
Fellow Pennsylvanian:
On Monday, January 31, 2005, the House will vote
to adopt a new set of
House Rules, the rules and procedures which govern
how our State House
of Represenatives operates. Depending on whether the
old or new rules
prevail, the process of creating new laws could either be
closed to
all but the 5 or 6 persons in the House leadership or one that is
open
to the 195 rank and file legislators who represent the majority
of
Pennsylvanians.
Please write your state legislator. Tell them,
come Monday, you expect
to see a vigorous and healthy debate on the House
Rules. Tell them
that you expect them to stand up to leadership should they
attempt to
limit debate through a temporary muzzle rule as they have done
since
1999. Urge them to pass House Rules which guarantee that
legislators
know what they are voting on.
You can contact your
representatives
here:
http://www.hallwatch.org/faxbank/rules
Under the old House
Rules stealth legislation has multiplied like rats
in a back alley.
Philadelphians saw this first hand last November when
a piece of stealth
legislation authored by a lobbyist for the
Billboard industry--House Bill
1954--took away their legal right as
taxpayers to appeal zoning decisions.
Afterwards Philadelphia legislators described having been herded
like
sheep into passing the bill. They said they didn't know what they
were
voting on-- that the amended bill never appeared on their
computer
screens, that it was never discussed in Caucus, that they were
never
given the time to read the hundreds of bills run by leadership in
the
waning days of the session.
State Representative Greg Vitali is
attempting to shine a light into
those dark corners of the Rules where rank
and file legislators and
the Pennsylvanians they represent have been
bitten. On Monday he will
offer amendments that, if passed, would address
some of the
shortcomings of the old Rules. Among other things the new
rules
require that:
* Legislators have 24 hours instead of just a
single hour to review
bills such as HB 1954 which was amended by the
Senate.
* The bill's title be read so that legislators can connect what
they
have been told in Caucus with the numbers flashing across the
vote
board.
* Lobbyists file quarterly expense reports
detailing how much they
have spent trying to influence
legislation.
For the past six years the House leadership has silenced
principled
legislators through a muzzle rule. The rule forbids legislators
from
offering any amendments that might improve leadership's old
Rules,
i.e., legislators will be able to approve leadership's rules, but
not
propose improvements or more importantly debate the need for new
rules
to make stealth legislation a thing of the past.
Thank you for
considering my request. It is only the involvement of
concerned citizens
like yourself that will make our state legislature
a better place. Our
state legislators are in great need of your
guidance and thoughtful
concern.
Sincerely,
Ed Goppelt, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PS:
if you would prefer not to receive emails on issues of interest
to
Philadelphians, let me know so I can take you off my
list.
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