Jefferson Reform Initiative

Background

• a group of House Republicans working for reforms in legislative operations that include conducting business more openly and more sharing of power with rank-and-file members.

Links

• Jerry Nailor

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Insights

Lawmakers push reforms under banner of 'initiative'

Source: [1] Pocono Record, ROBERT B. SWIFT, Ottaway News Service, June 11, 2006

HARRISBURG — Lawmakers are raising the banner of legislative reform and hopes to be taken seriously now that 17 of their colleagues have lost renomination bids.

The "Jefferson Reform Initiative" is pushing for changes to make state government more open and accountable to the public and reducing the concentration of power in the hands of a few legislative leaders.

Their agenda:

• lobbyist disclosure law,
• curbing the size of the house,
• limiting powers of the state courts,
• tying state spending to achievable measures and
• bringing more accountability to state debt programs for economic and community development
• limit post-election legislative sessions of lame duck lawmakers.
• limit the power and tenure of House committee chairs
• curb the power of legislative leaders to change the scope of legislation in the rules committee.

The Jefferson Initiative started in the House Republican caucus in the fall of 2005 at the time the controversial legislative pay raise was being repealed and now includes roughly 30 members.

A group of Democratic lawmakers is working on reform issues too and joined with the initiative in calling for quick enactment of a lobbyist disclosure law.

The in-house reformers are competing for attention with a coalition of outside groups, including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, which recently unveiled an agenda called "Roadmap to Reform." Roadmap proposals cover more ground and include some items that the in-house reformers aren't addressing such as prohibiting campaign fundraisers while the Legislature is in session and posting monthly expense reports of lawmakers on-line.

"If they lawmakers didn't get the message in the primary, they are never going to get it," said Rep. Jerry Nailor, R-Cumberland, who unveiled legislation this week to limit action in lame duck sessions by requiring a two-thirds vote on any bills passed during that period.

Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, has been a lonely voice on legislative reform issues. Vitali was often the only one to stand up on the floor and challenge a move to rush passage of legislation. Sometimes, Vitali's procedural motions annoyed his colleagues. That was prior to the pay raise fiasco. Vitali now has more company, but he said the jury is still out whether the reform efforts under way are serious or not.

"What we don't want is the appearance of reform," added Vitali. "We want actual reform."