Pennsylvania lobby reform bill short on reforms
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 03:35:11 PM EST
Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel recently introduced his Lobbyist Disclosure bill, and it seems to be missing a key ingredient...reform.
When does reform need reform?
When it's state House Bill 2753, House Speaker John Perzel's long-awaited Lobbyist Disclosure bill.
After months of delay while Perzel convened his own expert panel to reinvent the wheel -- rejecting a stronger Senate bill passed last year and a stronger House bill that grew out of the State Government Committee -- he has introduced legislation that got a swift thumbs down from at least two of the public interest groups that have been pushing real reform.
''How bad is it?'' wrote Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA. ''Instead of the best Pennsylvania citizens can get, it looks like the worst Perzel thinks he can get away with.''
''It should get the swift, quiet burial it deserves,'' said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania.
Harsh.
''This proposal protects corruption, waste, secrecy and mistrust,'' Potts concluded. ''From the perspective of a citizen trying to hold his or her own lawmakers accountable, it is completely worthless.''
Alrightly, then. Care to try again, Speaker Perzel? Maybe this time with some actual lobby reforms?
Tags: Pennsylvania, In the States, lobby reform, disclosure (all tags)
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