Shaken, not just stirred
Voters in Pennsylvania gave Harrisburg a good, swift, deserved kick in the buttocks on Tuesday.
Primary elections are often dull but not this time - not with voters still seething over last year's pay-raise debacle. The admirable result delivered by motivated citizens was the sort of ballot-box revolution that comes along once in a generation.
Sixty-one incumbent state legislators were running for re-election against opponents on the primary ballot. At least 13 lost, according to unofficial results, with some races still too close to call. Among those booted were two veteran Senate leaders who plotted the legislative pay raise - Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer (R., Blair) and Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R., Lebanon). House Majority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) escaped with barely 48 percent of the vote.
It had been 42 years since a legislative leader in Harrisburg lost a primary. Those defeats, coupled with the retirement of 30 lawmakers, mean that about one-fifth of the Legislature will be newcomers in 2007. And there could be even more fresh faces. About a dozen incumbents still face tough re-election races in November.
Will anything change?
The embarrassing gridlock on the issue of property taxes this spring suggested that incumbents were waiting for the primary to see whether voters' agitation had finally waned.
Now they know. It hasn't. So, will the incumbents find a workable compromise on tax reform? Will they end Pennsylvania's status as the only state that fails to monitor how much money lobbyists spend on influencing lawmakers? Will they adopt meaningful campaign finance laws? Will they break their nasty habit of passing laws in the dead of night without giving the public, and even many legislators, a chance to read, digest and comment upon the bills? Will they take steps to rein in their bevy of wasteful perks?
The message from voters should be clear by now. The public is tired of the way Harrisburg conducts itself. Citizens are fed up with legislators who behave as if taking care of themselves is Job One.
Primary elections are often dull but not this time - not with voters still seething over last year's pay-raise debacle. The admirable result delivered by motivated citizens was the sort of ballot-box revolution that comes along once in a generation.
Sixty-one incumbent state legislators were running for re-election against opponents on the primary ballot. At least 13 lost, according to unofficial results, with some races still too close to call. Among those booted were two veteran Senate leaders who plotted the legislative pay raise - Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer (R., Blair) and Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R., Lebanon). House Majority Leader Sam Smith (R., Jefferson) escaped with barely 48 percent of the vote.
It had been 42 years since a legislative leader in Harrisburg lost a primary. Those defeats, coupled with the retirement of 30 lawmakers, mean that about one-fifth of the Legislature will be newcomers in 2007. And there could be even more fresh faces. About a dozen incumbents still face tough re-election races in November.
Will anything change?
The embarrassing gridlock on the issue of property taxes this spring suggested that incumbents were waiting for the primary to see whether voters' agitation had finally waned.
Now they know. It hasn't. So, will the incumbents find a workable compromise on tax reform? Will they end Pennsylvania's status as the only state that fails to monitor how much money lobbyists spend on influencing lawmakers? Will they adopt meaningful campaign finance laws? Will they break their nasty habit of passing laws in the dead of night without giving the public, and even many legislators, a chance to read, digest and comment upon the bills? Will they take steps to rein in their bevy of wasteful perks?
The message from voters should be clear by now. The public is tired of the way Harrisburg conducts itself. Citizens are fed up with legislators who behave as if taking care of themselves is Job One.
posted by thefishbowl at 1:17 PM
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