Republicans remove some Democrat committee seats

State Rep. Brandon Boyle (front) and other members of the House Democrat caucus said they were shut out of the debate on a series of government reform bills.

House Democrats were up in arms Wednesday over a series of moves by the Republican-controlled House Rules Committee.

Democrats claimed the GOP members made a “tyrannical move” by trying to “muzzle” debate over proposed legislation. Other Democrats said the Republicans had “turned back the clock” to an earlier era during the same week they promised to make state government more accountable and transparent.

“The era of reform is over and the Republican majority killed it,” said state Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Philadelphia). He said the Republican majority failed to live up to its promises of open and fair debate in the state House.

Tuesday, Democrats filed more than a three dozen amendments to proposed government reform bills sponsored by Republican members. Republicans objected because the bills had passed out of the House State Government Committee earlier in the week with unanimous support.

State Rep. Brandon Boyle (front) and other members of the House Democrat caucus said they were shut out of the debate on a series of government reform bills.

Among the amendments offered was a proposal by House Democrat Leader Frank Dermody to extend whistleblower protection laws to members of the General Assembly. One of the bills under consideration by the committee Wednesday would extend the protections to legislative staff and to state contractors.

Another amendment would prevent the use of taxpayer money by government agencies to lobby other branches of government, said state Rep. Bill Kortz (D-Allegheny)

Steve Miskin, spokesperson for House Republicans, said some of the Democrat amendments were legitimate but identified 29 amendments as being intended to “gum up the works.” He said the Democrats’ move was a sign of things to come.

“These bills have been vetted,” said Mr. Miskin. “If this is how they are going to act with bills that have widespread support, how will they handle divisive legislation?”

“Make no mistake, this is a reform-crushing maneuver,” said Mr. Longietti.

Republicans voted Wednesday to reduce the Democrats’ representation on all committees from 10 members to nine, according to several House Democrats who spoke at an impromptu news conference in the Capitol rotunda.

Republicans have 15 members on all committees.

Mr. Miskin said Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) had plenty of time to negotiate with Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) before Republicans took the punitive move. Instead, they chose “theatrics,” he said.

House Republicans also voted to change the rules to allow amendments to be sent to committee without floor debate. House Democrats stormed out of the committee meeting during the roll call vote on the new rule.

Mr. Turzai told CapitolWire he would not to use the authority on important amendments. Mr. Miskin echoed those comments Wednesday.

Similar parliamentarian tactics were used by both caucuses during the last four years when Democrats controlled the majority.

Wednesday, Democrats called on moderate rank-and-file Republicans and newly inaugurated Republican Gov. Tom Corbett to tell House Republican leaders to re-instate their committee seats.

“Gov. Corbett wanted reform. We want reform,” said Mr. Kortz . “Gov. Corbett, this is not reform. Please get involved.”

The series of reform bills includes legislation to require all branches of state government to report their expenses on a public website. Other bills would require online reporting of state procurement activities and the posting of “sole source” – or non-bid – contracts for five days before they can be approved, so others could possibly bid on the services required by state government.

Another bill would increase penalties for lobbyists found to be violating state law. The measure, sponsored by state Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) would increase lobbyist fines from $2,000 to $10,000 for failing to disclose their activities, while also prohibiting the lobbyist from working with state government for 10 years. It would also increase the daily fine for late lobbying filings from $50 to $250 per day.

Among the reforms is a proposal to prohibit state lawmakers from creating non-profit organizations in order to obtain state grants or funding. Lawmakers may still serve on nonprofit boards but may not create them under the proposal.

The series of reform bills are scheduled for a House floor vote Monday.