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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 12, 2013 12:30 PM |
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| From: | Representative Bryan Cutler and Rep. Gordon Denlinger |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Part Time Legislature (Former HB 1064) |
| There are currently only four state legislatures in the U.S. that are considered to operate as full-time, standing bodies. These states – California, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania – require the most time of legislators, have large staffs, and pay members enough to make a living as lawmakers alone. These states also have other common elements – uncivil partisan atmospheres and exuberant costs related to conducting legislative business. We believe that in order to combat escalating costs and the excessively slow legislative process, we must limit legislative sessions and transform the Pennsylvania General Assembly into a part-time legislative body. The current operations in our State Capitol have become characterized by career politicians, partisan political games that stall almost every worthwhile initiative, and the inability of the body to enact a state budget in a timely fashion year after year. It is our hope that limiting when lawmakers meet in session will not only reduce overall staffing, salary, and expense costs, but the Legislature will be forced to concentrate their time on addressing the most important public policy issues facing Pennsylvania. In the near future, we intend to introduce legislation that would amend Pennsylvania’s Constitution in order to limit legislative sessions to January and February of odd-numbered years. This amendment will also modify the terms of House members so that legislators in both chambers will be elected for four-year terms which are staggered, as is currently the case in the Senate. Lastly, the amendment makes a clarification that members be compensated for their service, in order to facilitate future legislation to limit member’s pay to a daily rate for time served. We hope that you will join us in implementing a new era of lawmaking in Pennsylvania. PREVIOUS CO-SPONSORS: KRIEGER, BLOOM, BOYD,CREIGHTON, LAWRENCE, METZGAR, MULLERY, MURT, ROAE, ROCK,SCHRODER, SIMMONS, TALLMAN, TRUITT AND VULAKOVICH
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Introduced as HB1299