Vote to eliminate the largest and best paid state legislature?

By Dick Miller:

WE.CONNECT.DOTS:   The season of voter schmooze is upon us in Harrisburg.  Approval ratings for the state legislature continues to challenge Federal lawmakers for bottom of the barrel.

For the incumbents the strategy remains.  Convince your voters that “I’m doing MY job, It’s those other guys.” and you will get re-elected.

Last year’s fiasco involving an annual budget that never was formally adopted demands additional propaganda.

The master plan is to convince voters that if we can automate enough of our duties, we won’t look as stupid again.

Proposed reforms will always be subjects of discussion coming from our state capital.  Just a suggestion from a lawmaker or two guarantees free and positive publicity.

Reduce the size of the legislature?  How about putting a lid on annual tax hikes?  What about mandating the state’s minimum financing of public education?

Newspapers are filled with examples of such suggestions offered by our local elected legislators.  Most is garbage destined for non-passage from Day One.

Proposals never seem to get out of committee.  A few pass one legislative session but never two, as is required for such constitutional changes.

The budget debacle of last year has all kinds of proposed solutions that diminish chances of history repeating itself.

The most ridiculous comes from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.  That august body and most of the educational community propose that when an agreement on a fiscal year budget has not been reached by August 15, the State will automatically fund all 500 school districts at last year’s level.

They conveniently forgot the Constitution now requires the legislature to submit and the governor to sign a new budget by June 30, the end of the current fiscal year.  They also conveniently ignore other pressing needs such as social services, hospitals, police protection and the like.

Another suggestion, almost as funny, is that the legislature adopt a two-year budget in place of an annual financing document.  The thought here is that we would have to endure the 2015-16 fiasco less often.  The downside is that lawmakers seeking campaign funds could only shake down or be bribed semi-annually, rather than every year.

There continues to be no shortage of political hypocrisy in Harrisburg.  Mainstream media continues to report these “solutions” as gospel.

All will never get passed in Harrisburg.

Legislators should adhere to required deadlines, negotiate in good faith and arrive at a consensus when legally required.  Mainstream media and local community leaders must start to assert their demands and opinions.

Pronunciations of “we’re nonpolitical” be damned.  Locally we need to be more forceful in our guardianship of public education and important charities and services.

Bottom Line:  Pennsylvania is a non-referendum state.  When you hear or read about the voters somewhere recalling a governor or deciding against issuing bonds to finance a new sports stadium, it didn’t happen in Pennsylvania.

We might put such questions on the ballot here but the results would not be binding.  Our last Constitutional Convention where important changes were presented to the voters was conducted almost a half century ago.

All these suggestions suggest rather than automate, we could abolish our legislature.  Even permission to hold such an event must go through our current legislature first.

Would they vote to eliminate the largest and best paid state legislature in America?  Fat chance.