Election year could motivate 'dysfunctional' General Assembly

Voters will have an opportunity to fire most of the members of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2010. All 203 House seats and 25 of the 50 Senate seats are up for re-election. Will the most expensive but least productive state legislature in the country turn around years of dysfunction and corruption? Veteran Harrisburg reporter Brad Bumsted has some thoughts on the matter.

Bumsted writes:

Pennsylvania's $327 million General Assembly returns to session today, facing a question of whether it can become a functional Legislature again, political analysts say.

The Legislature was 101 days late in approving a state budget in 2009, when it approved fewer laws than in any year during the past 10. Fifty-five bills of general interest won final approval last year, compared with an average 135 per year during the decade, records show.

"With the Legislature, the question is whether it will become functional," said longtime political analyst G. Terry Madonna. "Over the past year, it has become dysfunctional."

Sharply drawn ideological lines, partisanship, inexperienced leaders, lack of trust between chambers, instability in the House Democratic caucus and an ongoing criminal investigation are among reasons for the impairment, said Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster.

Check out Bumsted's full analysis at the link below:

Election year could motivate 'dysfunctional' General Assembly - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review