EVEN A GREAT LAW, NOT PROSECUTED, BECOMES BAD GOVERNMENT By: Kelly Lewis Gov-Elect Wolfs first policy act, was to ban gifts for his transition team.. He is proposing other similar bans as well. Kudos. This move is a good start. His prioritization is right on the mark. I recommend his team consider adding two provisions to these actions: 1). Insert a mechanism that the Governor will prosecute the ban... Something like, In addition to annual signed affidavits by all employees, the budget office will randomly audit 3 offices and its employees every year to make sure the ban is absolute. 2). Add a severe penalty. Any employee caught accepting a gift of any value or quantity, will be subject to a fine up to $50,000, and forfeiture of their state pension. That additional language will strike the tone needed to really change government in Pennsylvania. History shows, just passing laws, is not enough! Laws need teeth and prosecution. In the 2001-2002 state budget, I worked with Sen. Jim Rhoades. We inserted language in the state budget that capped school district reserve accounts. My original amendment capped all district accounts, but the compromise language just capped a districts General Fund. In two years, the cap cut excessive reserves by over $200 million. But within 5 years, schools figured out they could and did by-pass the Cap, by simply shifting excess funds into special reserve accounts and building funds. Just 5 years after I left public office, schools had shifted over $1.1 billion into non-General Fund Reserves. Now ten years late, School reserves exceed $4 Billion, a $2.5 billion increase. Over the same ten years, the state underfunded pensions by $10 billion, and schools underfunded pensions by $6 billion, despite 2004-2005 actuarial reports clearly delineating the massive crisis the underfunding and other pension distribution changes would cause by 2015. Other underfunding situations, and gross funding inequities, like school funding and county transportation funding are rampant and hurting citizens. While the state constitution requires prudent and balanced budgets, weve had nothing short of a ten-year constitutional crisis of epic proportion. State leadership (House, Senate, Governor) needs to start prosecuting and enforcing its laws, and following the nations oldest Constitution. With new leaders, some with strong constitutional passions, in the House, Senate and Governors office, there is hope. Kelly Lewis is President of Lewis Strategic, and the founder of PA SAVE$, a group focused on cost savings for Pennsylvania governments, companies and non-profits.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 18:03:14 +0000
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