Burns: Lobbying reform bill blocked by partisan GOP chairman
Cambria Democrat seeks fair treatment of good-government measure
Rep. Frank Burns May 7, 2018 | 11:39 AM
EBENSBURG, May 7 – Baffled over why his good-government bill -- which would double the length of time former state officials and employees must wait to become lobbyists -- has been stalled in committee for 15 months, state Rep. Frank Burns says a recent admission points to blatant partisanship as the reason.
Burns said his H.B. 68, which he views as an extremely good piece of legislation with strong public support, was referred to the House State Government Committee on Jan. 23, 2017, where it’s been bottled up ever since.
“I’ve been perplexed about this inertia for nearly a year-and-a-half, but now we all know the answer as to why we’re not increasing from one to two years the amount of time former officials must wait before cashing in as lobbyists,” Burns said. “And that answer is purposeful stalling by a powerful Republican.”
Burns said nothing moves through the State Government Committee without the blessing of its Majority Chairman Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican from Butler County, who recently admitted to purposely blocking all bills put forth by Burns and other members of the minority Democratic Party.
Burns said that Metcalfe recently posted on Facebook, “I block all substantive Democrat legislation sent to my committee,” and at a recent town meeting said, “I don’t move anything substantive that’s Democrat legislation.”
This type of one-sided political posturing, Burns said, doesn’t just hurt Democratic members – it also keeps good legislation like his from getting a fair hearing and vote, even from Republican members who may back the bill.
“People who wonder why Harrisburg is broken, and who are frustrated at why nothing seems to get done, need look no further than Representative Metcalfe’s comments,” Burns said. “He’s practically bragging about how he refuses to let good Democratic legislation see the light of day.
“I’ve spent a lot of time lately addressing the problem of bullies in schools – now it’s time to address one in the state House.”
Toward that end, Burns said he’s reintroduced H.B. 68 as H.B. 2336 and asked another Republican, House Speaker Mike Turzai, to assign it to a different committee headed by a GOP majority chairman who isn’t as hyper-partisan as Metcalfe.
“This may be the only way for a good bill to move through the process fairly and without prejudgment,” Burns said.