State Capitol Roundup for Feb. 6

Here's this week's State Capitol Roundup courtesy of state Rep. Bob Mensch (R-147)

Governor's Budget Spends Too Much

Despite Gov. Ed Rendell's projected $2.3 billion deficit for the current fiscal year, he proposes to add another $705 million over this year's enacted budget to increase total spending to $29 billion for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The plan, which relies largely upon $3.5 billion in uncertain federal bailout funds over the next two years, does not address the systemic spending problems dragging the state closer to the brink of insolvency. The temporary federal bailout funds are still being formulated and debated in Congress. House Republicans are concerned that the proposed usage of the bailout funding will cause large budget holes when the money runs out, setting the stage for yet another broad-based tax increase in the future. The proposal already contains several tax increases including smokeless tobacco, cigarettes and natural gas. House Republicans remain committed to balancing the budget and providing citizens with a government that can live within its means without painful tax increases. The House Republican Caucus has taken this challenge seriously by re-evaluating its own policies. Better use of staff, procedural audits and access to technology has resulted in nearly $20 million savings to taxpayers since 2004. For the latest details on the budget and more legislative news, visit PAHouseGOP.com

House Democrats Vote to Roll Back Rules Reforms

In a party line vote, House Democrats successfully weakened several of the reform rules adopted by the House last session. House Democrats voted down an amendment which would have prevented members from receiving compensation from lobbying firms. Several of the changes stand in contrast to past efforts of reform-minded legislators seeking to empower the public and restore their confidence in the way government does business. One such change relaxes an 11 p.m. curfew that prevented work from stretching into the early morning. Additionally, the new rules empower the Rules Committee to amend bills on concurrence, making it easier to use "gut and replace" amendments to manipulate language in bills. Collectively, the changes greatly reduce government transparency and decrease the influence of rank-and-file members. After six weeks of hearings in 2007, the House adopted more than 30 changes to the House rules granting unprecedented access to government records and providing transparency and accountability for the actions of the legislature. Rep. Craig Dally (R-Northampton) sponsored legislation to carry over these rules. However, the bill was gutted and replaced with language sponsored by House Democrats.