Waugh Backs Call for House Action on Reform Legislation

HARRISBURG – Senator Mike Waugh (R-York), Senate Republican Caucus Chairman, is standing with his fellow Senate Leadership members in asking House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese to take action on seven reform-focused pieces of legislation, all of which passed the Senate unanimously.

Together, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi have issued a request to Representative DeWeese asking that he prioritize these reform measures when developing the House's fall agenda.

"I fully support Senators Scarnati and Pileggi in the call for action on the reform proposals," said Waugh.  "The public has been demanding change, and we owe it to them to take action on these measures.  We need to stop talking and start doing."

The Senate did take action by unanimously passing all seven pieces of legislation with Waugh co-sponsoring six of them and voting in favor of all seven.  Five of the bills are currently before the House State Government Committee, three of which have been there since last year.

Waugh acknowledges the timeliness of the reform legislation considering the recent actions taken in response to legislative employee bonuses and other misuses of taxpayer dollars.

"I have always supported strong ethics measures," said Waugh.  "And the need for such is especially ripe given the recent announcements by the Attorney General's office."

While both the House and Senate implemented reform measures at the beginning of the 2007-2008 session, the seven pieces of outstanding legislation awaiting House consideration address very specific methods for safeguarding tax dollars not addressed earlier in the year.

The seven pieces of reform legislation are as follows:

• Senate Bill 467 (Armstrong) – strengthens the penalties for violating the state Sunshine Law
• Senate Bill 729 (Pileggi) – requires governmental salary information to be posted online
• Senate Bill 903 (Orie) – prohibits state agencies from entering into consulting contracts unless the contracts are reviewed by the state Attorney General or opened to public comment
• Senate Bill 986 (Eichelberger) – prohibits bonuses for Commonwealth employees
• Senate Bill 1015 (Folmer) – allows the public to know when their money is being spent on advertising
• Senate Bill 1201 (Armstrong) – makes additional information available on the Internet regarding the use of state plans
• Senate Bill 1499 (Folmer) – makes changes regarding state vehicle use