JANUARY 26, 2012

Does Pennsylvania Need Fewer Legislators?

A proposal to reduce the Pennsylvania State House from 203 representatives to 153 will be voted on in the coming weeks by the House. The proposal is certainly popular, but is it much ado about nothing?

As Daily News columnist John Baer notes, the reduction wouldn't take effect until after the 2020 redistricting plan goes into effect— at least 10 years from now. This date assumes the proposed constitutional amendment passes both the House and Senate this session, and next legislative session, and is then approved by voters.

The proposal is often sold as cost-savings. At $314 million, the cost of running the legislature is no small matter, but reducing the number of legislators need not reduce costs. The biggest cost in the state legislature is not its 253 members, but its 2,919 staff members, the largest legislative staff in the nation. Indeed, lawmaker salaries are only a bit more than 10 percent of the General Assembly's total cost. And reducing legislative spending need not wait a decade, it can happen in the next budget.

The more important question is whether this is good policy. Our analysis shows almost zero connection between the number of legislators and policy outcomes like spending, taxes, or economic freedom. As we've repeated time and time again, it is unlikely that minimizing the legislature's size without other reforms will improve Harrisburg's spending problem.

posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 03:00 PM | 0 comment

DECEMBER 20, 2011

Redistricting Reform Needed...Four Years Ago

The Pennsylvania House is expected this week to to pass the Congressional redistricting bill. House Democrats, in the minority, are complaining about the gerrymandering of the new map.

Does the new map favor Republicans? Absolutely, at least for a few years until demographic shifts make all the minutiae moot.

Was the new map drawn with party registration a key factor? Were the home addresses of incumbents and potential challengers key factors? You bet.

Is there gerrymandering? Of course.

Could Democrats have done anything to prevent this? Yes. A few years ago, when Democrats controlled the House, we urged them to move forward on redistricting reform.

That didn't happen, and a broken system was allowed to continue.  On the bright side, we've got a whole decade to try to reform the process before the next redistricting occurs.

posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 10:27 AM | 0 comment

NOVEMBER 17, 2011

End Transparency Exemption for Penn State

Penn State officials will soon be under a different kind of investigation—an investigation by taxpayers. In the aftermath of the child sexual abuse scandal, Rep. Eugene DePasquale is introducing a bill requiring full transparency from the state-related university.

Under the current Right-to-Know law, all state-related universities—Penn State, Temple, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln—are exempt from standard right-to-know requests. In other words, these universities receive taxpayer funds—over $500 million last year—but are under no obligation to reveal to taxpayers precisely how they spent these funds. The current law requires the universities to post their 990 tax forms, the salaries of officers and directors, and the highest 25 salaries annually, but these general documents provide little insight into universities' enormous spending.  Nor do they give access to information that state agencies and local governments must provide to citizens.

The calls for transparency are not without reason: Obviously, the handling of the Sandusky scandal calls into question the judgment of the university leaders, but this isn't the first case of suspected foul play. Dr. Michael Mann, a meteorology professor at the university, has been accused of manipulating and destroying research to prove his theory on climate change. The university's resulting investigation proved a wash.

And consider the following facts that speak volumes about the university's fiscal management:

• Penn State has reduced early morning classes because they are unpopular with students and some faculty, while the university's strategic plan suggests facilities are being underutilized.
• Penn State increased administrative staff per student by 70.8 percent between 1993 and 2007. The University of Pittsburgh increased administrative staff by 54.7 percent, according to a Goldwater Institute study.
• Taxpayers provided nearly $3.5 billion to Penn State over the last decade while tuition doubled to $15,250.
• At Penn State's main campus, 58 percent of students graduate in four years. This compares with 11-45 percent at its 19 branch campuses, where enrollment has been declining.

It's time to open the books on Penn State.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 10:33 AM | 0 comment

AUGUST 11, 2011

Which Government Structure Reforms will Benefit Taxpayers?

This week, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee held a hearing on bills to reduce the size of the General Assembly (i.e., the number of legislators). While CF did not testify on this particular hearing, we have written on this and related issues in the past.

Earlier this year, I spoke to a Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on structural reforms to the legislature; that presentation is below.

Our conclusion is that, absent other reforms, simply reducing the number of legislators may not generate cost savings or improve transparency and accountability in government. Nor is there any link between legislative size and policy outcomes: taxes, spending or economic freedom.

However, other substantive reforms, including term limits and the "professionalization" (full-time vs. part-time, salary and benefits, and number of staff) do correlate with policy outcomes.

Pennsylvania Government Structural Reforms

posted by NATHAN BENEFIELD | 05:59 PM | 0 comment

JUNE 30, 2011

Spending Transparency Coming to Pennsylvania at Last

Pennsylvania taxpayers are one step closer to finding out exactly how state government spends their money. Yesterday, the legislature passed HB 15 to establish PennWATCH—a free public spending database including all state revenues and expenditures, much like an online checkbook.  Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Jim Christiana and Senate Majority Whip Pat Browne for the leadership on this issue over the last few years.

Pennsylvania now becomes the 37th state to pass spending transparency legislation. The spending portal will be housed in Office of Administration, and implementation—ensuring a user-friendly website that every Pennsylvanian can access—will be the next step to help taxpayers hold Harrisburg accountable.

By December 2012, the website will feature:

• Information on state expenditures, including
  • Amount,
  • Name and address of the agency or vendor receiving funds,
  • The appropriation and the fiscal year the expenditure falls under,
  • The funding source, including the name of authorizing agency;
    
• Monthly revenues from taxes and the federal government;
• Performance measures to be evaluated; and
• The names, titles and salaries of all state employees.
  • Monthly pay, compensation benefits and bonuses of all employees will be added by January, 2013

By December 2014 the website will also include:

• A description of each appropriation, and 
• Expected and achieved performance results.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 03:15 PM | 0 comment

MAY 4, 2011

Reining in Spending with Performance-Based Budgeting

The House State Government Committee held a hearing today on reforming the budgeting process. HB 726, sponsored by Rep. Stan Saylor, would institute performance based-budgeting.

Today, most of the budget debate focuses only on inputs, i.e., how much is needed from taxpayers to pay for current programs and expenses, instead of considering the cost, effectiveness and goals of existing programs. Our reality-based budgeting policy brief, co-authored by Bob Williams who testified today, explains:

When legislators discover their conventional baseline budget is higher than estimated revenue forecasts, they often focus exclusively on how to fill the budget gaps. Discussion turns toward program cuts, tax increases and accounting gimmicks, until spending lines up with expected revenue.

In contrast, performance-based budgeting would increase programs' and departments' funding based on performance, rather than lobbying or politics. As Rep. Saylor noted today (subscription):

"I have said repeatedly that we need to examine state spending to determine which programs are working and which are not," said Saylor. "The performance-based budgeting model gives us a workable way to make that happen." 

Read more about how to make budgets honest in Harrisburg here and listen to our podcast on building better budgets with Maurice McTigue and Bob Williams.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 05:45 PM | 0 comment

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

Podcast: Talking Transparency

In the latest The BOX podcast, Senior Fellow Jeff Coleman sits down with Representative Jim Christiana after the unanimous passage of his transparency legislation in the State House. Under PennWATCH (HB 15) citizens would have access to state government spending through a free, searchable, online database of state government spending. Pennsylvania has lagged behind the transparency movement, with 31 states already creating spending transparency websites.

Rep. Christiana explains the benefits of online transparency including savings and government accountability.

Establishing a searchable spending database is one of our 80 ideas for a prosperous Pennsylvania. Here's more info on transparency:

• Spending Transparency on the Fast Track in PA 
• Making PA Budgets Honest
• Spending Transparency and Accountability Facts
• State Spending Transparency Testimony 

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 05:35 PM | 0 comment

JANUARY 25, 2011

Spending Transparency on the Fast Track in PA

Yesterday, Rep. Christiana's PennWATCH proposal passed the House State Government Committee along with a number of reform measures designed to bring more transparency to state spending. The legislation (HB 15) is scheduled for a House floor vote as early as Wednesday. The legislation would require state spending to be posted online via a free user friendly database.

Democrats will offer an amendment to expand the scope of the database (subscription required).  

Among other changes, it would require the inclusion of state tax credit programs, the salaries paid to agency employees, investments of public funds, and the past performance of similar expenditures.

According to Americans for Tax Reform, 31 states have already established spending databases. Texas has already identified $8.7 million in savings thanks to their spending database. Apart from the potential savings, taxpayers deserve to know how their money is being spent. And creating a database is a fairly inexpensive endeavor, one that many states have accomplished by existing resources.

PennWATCH was introduced last year, but a similar proposal by Rep. Mirabito passed the House instead. Meanwhile, the Senate passed Sen. Browne's bill, SB 105, but the two chambers were unable to work together to send a bill to the Governor. Like PennWATCH, SB 105 has been reintroduced this year with significant support. Let's hope this time around the Senate and the House can cooperate to bring more accountability to state spending.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 04:50 PM | 0 comment

JANUARY 13, 2011

Good Government Reforms Stall

In November, many legislative candidates campaigned on cutting costs in the legislature through specific, commonsense reforms. Ending the frequent abuse of per diems and requiring receipts for expenses topped the list, along with ending the leasing of state vehicles, and requiring health care insurance contributions from state representatives (state senators currently contribute 1 percent of their salary). While these reforms are not big-ticket items capable of balancing the budget on their own, they would help trim the costs of the most expensive legislature in the country.

Leaders held a Bipartisan Management Committee meeting, but nothing was decided in the first meeting. The difficulty of convincing elected officials to even submit receipts for travel expenses speaks to the need for broader reforms, like transitioning to a part-time legislature or establishing spending limits. These reforms are unlikely unless citizens have the ability to propose and repeal laws through Initiative & Referendum.

Let's hope the new legislature achieves and builds on these reforms as a prelude to transparency and accountability in government.

posted by ELIZABETH STELLE | 03:29 PM | 0 comment