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House GOP: End Pay-To-Play Politics
Code Of Ethics, Contract Reform Bills Aimed At Restoring Government Integrity
By Chris Friend, The Bulletin
With the goal of reforming state contracting procedures for the three branches of government, state Reps. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver County; Craig Dally, R-Lehigh County; Robert Godshall, R-Montgomery County; Glen Grell, R-Cumberland County; Douglas Reichley, R-Berks and Lehigh counties; and Republican Whip Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, introduced a package of bills yesterday that aimed to effectively end “pay-to-play” politics in Pennsylvania.
The legislators cited recent examples of conflicts of interest and “pay-to-play” activities as reasons why Pennsylvania needs stronger laws addressing this behavior. Mentioned were allegations of corruption against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and the withdraw of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson from consideration as the nation’s Commerce Secretary due to a federal pay-to-play investigation.
CDR Financial has had numerous business dealings with the Pennsylvania state government during Gov. Ed Rendell’s, D, tenure. Mr. Rubin had close ties to Mr. Rendell, including being named to the governor’s transition team in 2003. He contributed $40,000 to the governor’s campaigns.
Secretive no-bid contracts doled out under the Rendell administration of have come under intense scrutiny by legislators, grassroots organizations and the media. This is due to the frequency and high-dollar amount of these contracts being awarded to the governor’s close friends and political contributors.
The state Senate introduced a 10-bill reform package last month aimed at bringing more transparency to state government, including how no-bid contracts are awarded.
“The recent allegations of corruption against Blagojevich, the swirling situation surrounding the award of millions of dollars in no-bid legal services contracts by Gov. Rendell to his old law firm, and now the information that Deloitte Consulting has turned the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) into its own satellite office compel all Pennsylvanians to be concerned about the manner in which the public dollars are being spent,” Mr. Reichley said.
“The disclosures over the last year of possible favoritism in awarding contracts leads us to worry that Pennsylvania is not immune to the perception that it’s not what you can do but who you know that gets you preferential treatment in government contracts. Pennsylvania needs laws in place to ensure that nothing like this can ever occur in our state,” he added.
The GOP lawmakers said Mr. Rendell has taken advantage of weak state laws, resulting in his giving “preferential consideration” to former associates in his former law firm, Ballard Spahr, as well as campaign contributors who have received “lucrative contracts” for state services without any competitive bidding.
“As President Obama said last week, we need to ensure the public that in this difficult economic time, there cannot be double standards for government officials,” Mr. Reichley said. “We need to reassure our citizens that in an era when the Wall Street bailout has revealed dubious use of public funds and that when a company donates to a successful political campaign, it is not a back-door way for the company to receive lucrative no-bid state contracts.”
He mentioned the state can have “no tolerance” for a perception that government is “for sale.”
“We need an open bidding process across the board in state government,” Mr. Turzai said. “This is necessary to restore trust. The taxpayers demand and deserve this type of openness and accountability.”
Proposed reforms include:
• Mr. Dally’s legislation aims to prohibit law firms from receiving more than $500,000 in state legal services contracts in any single year without open and competitive bidding.
• House Bill 205, sponsored by Mr. Godshall, would ban any contract from being awarded to a person, partnership or corporation that donated to a candidate within one year public bidding on the contract. This would encompass state, municipal, county or school district level contracts and any officeholder with discretionary control over contracts.
• Mr. Turzai’s bill would remove “legal services” from the definition of contracts that can be awarded by the governor under the emergency provisions of the Procurement Code. The emergency provision would be restricted to natural disasters or extraordinary events.
Mr. Grell’s legislation would require any extension of an existing state contract for services to be posted on the Department of General Services Web site for 10 business days. It would then be submitted to the attorney general for review to allow competitor bidders to indicate interest.
Mr. Reichley’s bill would require any contract issued by the executive branch or any legislative caucus with an initial value more than $100,000 to be the subject to the Procurement Code and undergo competitive bidding. Additionally, contracts could only be awarded to firms on an approved list of contractors.
Mr. Christiana aims to create a new a new ethical code for state executive branch employees. New employees would be prohibited from working in an area in which they lobbied the executive branch for two years prior to state employment. It would also restrict executive branch employees leaving state employment from lobbying that same branch for two years. This provision is similar to the policy recently imposed by President Barack Obama on federal executive branch employees, he said.
Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us
The legislators cited recent examples of conflicts of interest and “pay-to-play” activities as reasons why Pennsylvania needs stronger laws addressing this behavior. Mentioned were allegations of corruption against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and the withdraw of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson from consideration as the nation’s Commerce Secretary due to a federal pay-to-play investigation.
CDR Financial has had numerous business dealings with the Pennsylvania state government during Gov. Ed Rendell’s, D, tenure. Mr. Rubin had close ties to Mr. Rendell, including being named to the governor’s transition team in 2003. He contributed $40,000 to the governor’s campaigns.
Secretive no-bid contracts doled out under the Rendell administration of have come under intense scrutiny by legislators, grassroots organizations and the media. This is due to the frequency and high-dollar amount of these contracts being awarded to the governor’s close friends and political contributors.
The state Senate introduced a 10-bill reform package last month aimed at bringing more transparency to state government, including how no-bid contracts are awarded.
“The recent allegations of corruption against Blagojevich, the swirling situation surrounding the award of millions of dollars in no-bid legal services contracts by Gov. Rendell to his old law firm, and now the information that Deloitte Consulting has turned the Department of Public Welfare (DPW) into its own satellite office compel all Pennsylvanians to be concerned about the manner in which the public dollars are being spent,” Mr. Reichley said.
“The disclosures over the last year of possible favoritism in awarding contracts leads us to worry that Pennsylvania is not immune to the perception that it’s not what you can do but who you know that gets you preferential treatment in government contracts. Pennsylvania needs laws in place to ensure that nothing like this can ever occur in our state,” he added.
The GOP lawmakers said Mr. Rendell has taken advantage of weak state laws, resulting in his giving “preferential consideration” to former associates in his former law firm, Ballard Spahr, as well as campaign contributors who have received “lucrative contracts” for state services without any competitive bidding.
“As President Obama said last week, we need to ensure the public that in this difficult economic time, there cannot be double standards for government officials,” Mr. Reichley said. “We need to reassure our citizens that in an era when the Wall Street bailout has revealed dubious use of public funds and that when a company donates to a successful political campaign, it is not a back-door way for the company to receive lucrative no-bid state contracts.”
He mentioned the state can have “no tolerance” for a perception that government is “for sale.”
“We need an open bidding process across the board in state government,” Mr. Turzai said. “This is necessary to restore trust. The taxpayers demand and deserve this type of openness and accountability.”
Proposed reforms include:
• Mr. Dally’s legislation aims to prohibit law firms from receiving more than $500,000 in state legal services contracts in any single year without open and competitive bidding.
• House Bill 205, sponsored by Mr. Godshall, would ban any contract from being awarded to a person, partnership or corporation that donated to a candidate within one year public bidding on the contract. This would encompass state, municipal, county or school district level contracts and any officeholder with discretionary control over contracts.
• Mr. Turzai’s bill would remove “legal services” from the definition of contracts that can be awarded by the governor under the emergency provisions of the Procurement Code. The emergency provision would be restricted to natural disasters or extraordinary events.
Mr. Grell’s legislation would require any extension of an existing state contract for services to be posted on the Department of General Services Web site for 10 business days. It would then be submitted to the attorney general for review to allow competitor bidders to indicate interest.
Mr. Reichley’s bill would require any contract issued by the executive branch or any legislative caucus with an initial value more than $100,000 to be the subject to the Procurement Code and undergo competitive bidding. Additionally, contracts could only be awarded to firms on an approved list of contractors.
Mr. Christiana aims to create a new a new ethical code for state executive branch employees. New employees would be prohibited from working in an area in which they lobbied the executive branch for two years prior to state employment. It would also restrict executive branch employees leaving state employment from lobbying that same branch for two years. This provision is similar to the policy recently imposed by President Barack Obama on federal executive branch employees, he said.
Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us
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