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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Marc Gergely State Rep. Bill Kortz
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Gergely, Kortz: GOP action an affront to democracy
Legislators express extreme disappointment with the Republicans
HARRISBURG, Jan. 26 – State Reps. Marc Gergely and Bill Kortz of Allegheny County issued a statement today following the House Republican leadership's decision to end voting session abruptly without considering the Democrats' reform legislation and to change rules to remove Democrats from House committees and limit their ability to amend bills:
"I'm extremely disappointed by the actions of the House Republican Caucus to attempt to silence the debate on government reform legislation and trying to change the House rules to remove a Democrat from every House committee," Gergely said.
"The reform bills, such as my legislation that would expand the state's whistleblower law to ensure General Assembly employees can report waste or illegal activity without fear of losing their job, would have been made stronger by amendments proposed by many Democratic House members," Gergely said.
"This action is an affront to democracy," Kortz said. "This takes us back to the dark days of the pay raise-type politics, where debate is stifled and free speech is throttled.
"Representative Gergely and I call on our fellow local representatives, Republican freshmen Rick Saccone, George Dunbar and Eli Evankovich, to vote against this proposal on Monday, or they will be silencing other legislators from the Mon Valley and denying our communities, and theirs, full representation.
"If this is voted through, it will make the next two years 'the great gag session of 2011-12.' The people of Pennsylvania expect the Legislature to work together to create jobs and improve our state. These divisive tactics are un-American," Kortz said.
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