Doherty Unveils Key Priorities for Reforming Government in Harrisburg
Curbing legislator perks, improving transparency, and reducing the power of lobbyists will be key first steps for Doherty in state senate.
SCRANTON, PA - Today Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty unveiled his key priorities for reforming the state legislature and getting Pennsylvania’s government back on track. Doherty released a list of nine key reform measures. The complete list follows this release.
“It seems like everywhere you look these days you see another story about elected officials getting in trouble for one thing or another,” observed Doherty. “Corruption charges here, dishonest services there, abuse of state funds. It all adds up to one thing: Harrisburg is broken. We need someone from outside the system to come in and clean house. That’s why I’m releasing my key government reform agenda today. As state senator, these will be my priorities. Whether I have to introduce them myself or sign on to someone else’s bill, we have to get these measures passed.”
Primary among Doherty’s reform measures are steps to eliminate legislator perks including eliminating per diems, eliminating so-called “walking around money” (WAMs), docking legislators’ pay when the budget is overdue, and prohibiting pay raises beyond cost of living adjustments.
Doherty also focused on reducing lobbyist influence by recommending strict new laws against former legislators lobbying their colleagues and against ex-staffers lobbying their former bosses.
He also recommended several measures to improve transparency and expedite the way in which information becomes available to the public.
Doherty was also critical of the impact the legislature’s behavior has had on its ability to do the work of the people.
“This is about more than ethics,” added Doherty. “It’s a jobs issue, too. Because when legislators are busy trying to work the system to their own benefit, they’re not focused on creating jobs. When they’re being called to testify in corruption trials, they’re not focused on growing the economy.”
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Chris Doherty for State Senate:
Moving Past the Old Politics and Changing the Way Government Works
People first, politics second. That’s the way Chris Doherty governs. The results speak for themselves: thousands of new jobs, more than $500 million in new investment in the city, and BusinessWeek magazine named Scranton the best place in the state for families. “If you do what’s right, the rest will take care of itself,” says Doherty. His success is proof positive.
When it comes to cleaning up Harrisburg, it’s no different. Legislators focused on per diems, personal gain, and politics will never deliver results for Pennsylvania. Doherty will fight to reform Harrisburg to ensure that the legislature stays focused on job creation, economic growth, and putting Pennsylvania back on track.
As a state senator, Doherty will introduce or support the following:
REFORM MEASURE 1: Eliminate per diems. Legislators should be paid their salary, be reimbursed for verifiable, allowable expenses, and be compensated for their mileage. No more, no less.
REFORM MEASURE 2: Eliminate WAMs. The so-called “walking around money” provided to legislators to fund local projects are ripe for abuse. While some WAMs fund legitimate projects, they are sometimes used as a personal slush fund by unscrupulous legislators. The problem is that WAMs come with no requirement for disclosure or transparency. The same positive results can be accomplished through the regular budget process.
REFORM MEASURE 3: Dock legislators’ pay every day the state budget is not passed after the July 1 deadline.
REFORM MEASURE 4: Legislators already receive an automatic raise in the form of a cost of living adjustment to their salaries. They should be prohibited from further raising their own pay beyond the cost of living adjustment.
REFORM MEASURE 5: Require registered lobbyists to file reports on a quarterly basis that detail the legislators with whom they’ve met, the legislative staffers with whom they’ve met, the names of all attendees in each meeting, the dates and times of each meeting, and the topics discussed.
REFORM MEASURE 6: All reports filed by registered lobbyists must include an electronic filing and be made available to the public via the Internet within 48 hours of being filed.
REFORM MEASURE 7: Provide enhanced funding for the secretary of state’s office in order to improve efficiency, speed delivery of information to the public, and make the online database of campaign finance reports more easily searchable.
REFORM MEASURE 8: Prohibit former legislators, legislative staff members, and state appointees who become registered lobbyists from lobbying on behalf of clients before a current legislator, legislative staffer, or executive branch member for a period of two years (current law states that legislators and public officials cannot lobby for one year after leaving office).
REFORM MEASURE 9: Permanently prohibit former legislative staffers who become registered lobbyists from lobbying on behalf of clients before their former legislator or legislative staffers in the office in which they worked.
