What are they hiding in Harrisburg?

THIS IS TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE. THE AUTHOR AND SUPPORTERS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE. EVERYBODY IN PENNSYLVANIA SHOULD BE AWARE OF HOW THINGS ARE RUN IN HARRISBURG. -- TONY PHYRILLAS.

Corrupt.

It’s not a word to be used lightly. But sometimes it’s the only word that fits, and this is one of those times.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation without a law requiring lobbyists to disclose what they’re spending and doing to influence our legislators and our governor. The only state.

So it’s no coincidence, in our opinion, that Pennsylvania authorized more slot machines than any state but Nevada while our citizens were not protected by a lobbyist disclosure law. It is no coincidence that our legislators and our governor cooked a secret deal and enacted it within 36 hours when there was no way for anyone — ever — to know how much money changed hands and what promises were made.

While we can only guess how much money special interests spent, our guess can be an educated one. Thanks to Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, without whose leadership the public would know nothing at all, the Senate has a rule (not a law) to get some information from lobbyists.

Under Senate reporting alone, lobbyists spent $64 million in just the first half of last year to influence legislation. Recently, Jubelirer told the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association he expects the total for 2004 to be well over $100 million. The Senate has only 50 members. Imagine how much special interests spent in the 203-member House and the governor’s office.

Corrupt? Ask yourself this: If a system of unbridled influence peddling by lobbyists is not corrupt, why have all 49 other states bridled it? Even the federal government has a law.

But the heart of corruption in Pennsylvania is not that legislators and the governor are hiding how they cut deals with special interests, like professional gambling. The heart of this corruption is that it spits on democracy. It spits in the face of the people who have to live with and pay for the laws that special interests purchase under cover of secrecy.

Whether you’re for gambling or against it, the way Pennsylvania authorized 61,000 slot machines was an insult to democracy. Despite a constitution that plainly says bills should be considered on three different days in the House and three different days in the Senate, our gambling law was enacted in just 36 hours.

You and I had no opportunity to see what was proposed — and what we opposed. When we learned that lawmakers could own 1 percent of gambling interests, when we learned that our communities could be colonized by huge gambling parlors over the objection of local residents and officials, we raised Cain. Last fall, facing unhappy voters at election time, the General Assembly passed changes — only to have them vetoed by Gov. Rendell.

All of that could have been avoided if our public officials would stop playing keep-away from the people.

In March, we may hear from the third branch of our government — the State Supreme Court. Opponents of public corruption and opponents of gambling have filed suit to have the gambling law overturned because its passage violated the Constitution.

This month we may learn whether our Supreme Court justices have any greater sense of democracy than the legislative and executive branches. We will see whether our Supreme Court considers the Constitution’s three-day rule a mere how-to manual that can be ignored when the stakes are high, or whether it gives the people real due-process rights so that we can understand and influence proposed laws before it’s too late.

Pennsylvania needs a government — all three branches — that strengthens our democracy, not one that dismantles it. We need the best disclosure law in the country, not the worst. We need a law that:

• Requires lobbyists to register, to disclose their interests, and to report their spending.

• Prohibits lobbyists from giving anything of value, except information, to public officials.

• Requires the immediate, complete and public disclosure of information given to public officials on a dedicated "public integrity" Web site.

• Imposes harsh penalties against violators.

There is no benefit to the people when lobbyists give public officials expensive dinners, golf outings, tickets to sporting events, free financial advice and a thousand other things that we will never know about — but will live with and pay for.
Only our legislators and governor can enact such a law, and we should make sure they do.

In a democracy, "We the People" really do choose our government. The good news is that we can do it. When the politicians know that voters want integrity in public service, they will give the voters integrity in public service. They can’t help themselves; they’re politicians.

It’s hard when a word like "corrupt" attaches not just to institutions but to individuals. Sooner or later, it becomes impossible to separate the two. You can’t have a corrupt institution that’s populated by innocent individuals.

The preservation of democracy is job No. 1 for any public official. If our legislators fail to enact a state-of-the-art lobbyist disclosure law now, it is only reasonable for voters to conclude that legislators who don’t fight to end influence peddling are the ones who benefit from it.

This article was written by Timothy Potts, a former staff member in the Pennsylvania legislature. It was endorsed by Matthew Brouillette of the Commonwealth Foundation; Kathleen Daugherty of the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania; Lou Hammann, a retired professor of religion, Gettysburg College; Barry Kauffman of Common Cause/PA; and the Rev. Sandra Strauss, Pennsylvania Council of Churches.