Office of Speaker Dennis M. O’Brien

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

139 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        CONTACT:  Bill Patton

                                                                                                                                   717-787-4610

Speaker Asks Reform Commission to Continue Work

Next phase will study more House reforms, possible changes to state law

HARRISBURG, March 22 -- House Speaker Dennis O’Brien today sent a letter to members of the bipartisan Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform thanking them for carefully considering changes to House rules and asking them to continue meeting to consider broader institutional reforms.

The Speaker asked commission co-chairmen Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, and David Steil, R-Bucks, to focus the panel’s attention on seven topics in the next several months and try to issue recommendations by this summer.

“The first phase of the commission’s work was very successful. They produced more than 30 strong recommendations which the House adopted to improve the way the House functions, empower more legislators, and keep the public better informed,” O’Brien said. “By taking a serious approach to meeting the goals we share, the commission is helping to restore public trust in the legislative process.

“While the commission should continue to examine reform proposals in its next phase, it’s not necessary for them to look at every issue. Several significant reform bills already were introduced and referred to standing committees of the House, so progress toward reform can take place on several tracks at once,” he said.

O’Brien said he agrees with Majority Leader Bill DeWeese that the House’s standing committees can push reform efforts forward by holding hearings and considering bills referred to them.

The areas that O’Brien wants the reform panel to consider are:

· House Ethics Committee reorganization

· Development of a “Member Code of Conduct”

· Term limits

· Updating the state’s Open Records laws

· Campaign finance reform

· Examination of the size of the Legislature

· Developing a policy for bonuses for legislative staff

Since establishing an e-mail address in January to receive ideas for legislative reform, the commission already received more than 400 messages from Pennsylvanians about these topics. They continue to solicit public input via several e-mail addresses, including Reform@speakerobrien.com.

During its first phase which was limited to the House’s internal rules, the commission held all its meetings in Harrisburg. For the upcoming second phase, O’Brien encouraged the co-chairmen to schedule sessions in other cities to give more people an opportunity to observe the process and, if they wish, be heard.

A schedule of meetings will be announced later. It is expected to extend from April to June.

The commission’s 12 Democratic appointees are Reps. Mark Cohen, Bob Freeman, Tim Mahoney, Kathy Manderino, Phyllis Mundy, Chris Sainato, Josh Shapiro, Tom Tangretti, W. Curtis Thomas, Greg Vitali, Don Walko and. Jewell Williams.

The 12 Republican appointees are Reps. David Argall, Kerry Benninghoff, Jim Cox, Craig Dally, Glen Grell, Jerry Nailor, Brad Roae, Sam Rohrer, Carole Rubley, Curt Schroder, David Steil and Michael Vereb.

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