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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 13, 2015 04:50 PM |
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| From: | Representative Jaret Gibbons |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Abuse of Office or Employment (former HB1637) |
| In the near future, I plan to re-introduce legislation, former House Bill 1637, Printer’s Number 2256, which was introduced during the 2013-2014 legislative session. This legislation created the “Abuse of Public Office Prohibition and Penalty Act” and is intended to fix a flaw in current law. Currently, Chapter 53 (Abuse of Office) of Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes prohibits official oppression, speculating or wagering on official action or information, and liability for reimbursement of costs for outside counsel. However, there is no specific provision in Title 18 that makes abuse of office a criminal offense. Under my proposal, abuse of office would be a criminal offense if an elected official, public officer or public employee would (1) intentionally compel a public employee to perform an activity knowing the activity is not related to the performance of the duties of the office held by the elected official or public officer and (2) intentionally compel a public contractor to provide a good or service for the private pecuniary benefit of the elected official, public officer or another person. A violation would constitute a misdemeanor of the second degree. However, if the aggregate value of the activities, goods or services performed would exceed $2,000, a violation would be a third degree felony. A person who falsely reports an alleged violation would also be subject to criminal prosecution. Please join me in co-sponsoring this commonsense legislation that will ease this unnecessary financial burden on Pennsylvania drivers. |
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| View Attachment | ||
Introduced as HB1615