Dave Davies: Of laws & lunchmeat: From bad to wurst

A COUPLE of years back, when public fury over legislative pay raises was raging, lawmakers in Harrisburg enacted changes that were supposed to make their work more transparent and involve the public in their deliberations.

They didn't do enough.

In their panic to get a budget deal done, leaders have now cooked up the idea of a 6 percent tax on arts and cultural events. It was agreed upon in secret meetings and stands to be imposed without a single public hearing.

"It just came out of nowhere," said Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance President Peggy Amsterdam, who's scrambling to make the case that the tax is a bad idea.

It's all too reminiscent of the recent past, when lawmakers cut secret deals and rammed through important legislation with the speed and fury of a mob hit. Legislators voted on bills they hadn't read, and affected citizens had no chance to voice an objection.

It's happened with welfare cuts, gambling laws and legislation ripping control of the Convention Center and Philadelphia Parking Authority away from the city.

Now, we have the arts tax.

Amsterdam says the $100 million that lawmakers expect from the tax is a fantasy, that they could get as little as $13 million. I have no idea who's right, but it's the kind of thing that ought to be aired at a public hearing.

And why aren't they imposing the same levy on pro-sports events? Gov. Rendell and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi say that the Phillies' and Eagles' leases require the city to reimburse them for any new tax imposed on tickets to their events.

I reviewed that provision, which was designed to protect the teams from an increase in the city's 5 percent amusement tax, and I spoke with a lawyer familiar with the issue.

He agreed with me that it's not clear whether the language in the lease would apply to the state sales-tax extension that the museums and cultural groups are facing.

Again, it's the kind of thing you'd explore in a public hearing, if you weren't in such a hurry.

When I've raised the issue of public hearings in the past, lawmakers have assured me that there is vigorous debate in the House and Senate chambers before any controversial bill is enacted and that all the arguments for both sides are heard.

But having a debate among politicians before a vote is very different from holding a hearing in which experts, affected groups and ordinary citizens share their experience and wisdom.

Lawmakers learn things they didn't know when they go through that exercise. Better legislation usually results.

Erik Arneson, spokesman for Senate Republican leaders, said that there's far more public input on budget decisions this year than in the past, when a deal would be cut in one day and voted on the next.

And state Rep. Josh Shapiro, a Montgomery County Democrat who led the reform effort two years ago, said that changes made then will slow the Legislature down and provide more transparency, though things could be better.

He did say that he opposes the arts tax and believes that it should be reviewed at "extensive hearings."

My colleague Ronnie Polaneczky writes today about how sausages are still made in Philadelphia. I think the titans in Harrisburg could learn a few things about how they make laws here, too.

In Philadelphia City Council, it's impossible to engage in the kind of legislative railroading done in Harrisburg.

Every bill in Council has to have a title that truly describes its purpose, and it must be reviewed at an advertised public hearing.

A bill can't be amended in a way that changes its original purpose.

In other words, you can't introduce a bill on parking signs, then quietly insert language imposing a tax on museums.

Once a bill's final language is agreed upon, it must be printed and advertised, and Council can't act on it for five business days.

Those rules are in the city charter, and they've been meticulously followed in the 20 years I've been following Council.

Maybe when the boys in Harrisburg finally get their sleazy budget deal done, they should take a field trip to Philly and learn something.