Rep. Glen Grell (R-Hampden Township) today said the grand jury report on legislative reform issued May 24 offers many recommendations that mirror proposals that he has been advocating for the past several years.

“I am hopeful the recommendations of the grand jury and my earlier reform efforts will not continue to fall on deaf ears,” Grell said.  “This report is a major wake-up call and should put the General Assembly on notice that further legislative reforms are still needed.

“The report and the recommendations are encouraging to me as they support many of the reform proposals I presented to the Speaker’s Commission on Legislative Reform in 2007,” he continued.

The 28th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, which convened two years ago to investigate what has become known as Bonusgate, outlined a number of recommendations that Grell proposed as a member of the Speaker’s Commission.  They include conducting a forensic audit of legislative leadership accounts; replacing partisan hiring and staffing plans with non-partisan hiring policies, where appropriate; reducing special leadership accounts; providing full disclosure of members’ legislative expenses; and consolidating redundant departments and operations to streamline services and reduce costs.  Grell’s recommendations were adopted by the commission; however, many of them have not been implemented.

The Grand Jury recommendations also bolstered Grell’s call in September 2009 for a Budget Reform Commission to propound improvements for the annual budget process.  Following the protracted budget stalemate that ensued last summer, Grell put forward a proposal to create a Commission on Budgetary Reform.  House Resolution 580 would create a bi-cameral, bi-partisan commission charged with making recommendations to both the House and Senate to effect significant changes to the state budget process.  Grell envisions the commission to focus on establishing fixed time lines and milestones, and including consequences if objectives are not achieved; adopting performance-based budget principles into the annual budget process; affording greater involvement to every member of the General Assembly, not just legislative leaders; and implementing continuity provisions for state government operations to keep faith with state employees, vendors and taxpayers.

Rep. Glen Grell

87th District

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

(717) 783-2063

Contact:  Tim Eller

teller@pahousegop.com

(717) 260-6242

Member site:  RepGrell.com

Caucus site:  PAHouseGOP.com