Restructure Priorities
The state government has spun its wheels for over 20 years on a handful of seemingly intractable issues: property tax reform, campaign finance reform, legislative reforms (Salaries, WAMs, and the size of the legislature). Every elected official agrees we need to fix these problems but nothing ever happens. The legislature just can’t seem to overcome its own inertia.
When companies can’t fix themselves they sometimes bring in outside consultants. In the case of state government, the consultants are the people.
We need to restructure the priorities of Pennsylvania, formed of civic-minded Pennsylvanians. They need to look at a variety of solutions and restructure state government so it does a better job of resolving problems in the future.
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Reduce the Size of the Legislature
Pennsylvania’s legislature is vastly oversized. Everyone knows that. We have more legislators than California or New York. We could cut the legislature by a one third and many Pennsylvanians wouldn’t notice.
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Per Diems
The ugly truth is that per diems are corrupting the legislature. Currently, legislators receive $162 for each day spent in Harrisburg, regardless of how much it costs them. The problem is that since many legislators eat for free, they end up pocketing thousands of dollars per year. The solution is simple: change to a receipt-driven system.
Utilizing a receipt-driven system will take the profit-motive out of spending time in Harrisburg, and there will be fewer “important” meetings as well.
