Six candidates for governor concur: Fight corruption

HARRISBURG - The six men vying for the state's top job all agree on one key point: Harrisburg has been riddled with corruption and needs to change.

At a candidates' forum Wednesday night, the four Democrats and two Republicans running for governor detailed their plans for reforming state government, from placing caps on campaign contributions to crafting stronger ethics rules.

The theme could not have been more timely. Just last week, a Dauphin County jury convicted former State Rep. Mike Veon (D., Beaver) of using taxpayer money to underwrite political campaigns. Two of Veon's aides were also convicted. A third was acquitted.

The theme also gave a needed boost to a race that has yet to garner much attention or interest from the public, having been overshadowed by the higher profile race in Pennsylvania for the Senate.

"All of the candidates realize that there is deep dissatisfaction and unbelievably high levels of anger with the way things are going in Harrisburg," said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College who closely follows state politics.

"You can bet the farm that they are going to pitch their reform credentials . . . and that voters will be listening," Borick said.

That they did.

Each of the candidates sought to paint himself as a leader on the issue of reform during the 90-minute forum, held on the campus of Harrisburg Area Community College.

On the Democratic side, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato is running in the May 18 primary against Auditor General Jack Wagner, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, and State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams of Philadelphia.

On the Republican side, State Rep. Sam Rohrer of Berks County and Attorney General Tom Corbett are competing in the primary.

At the debate, all the candidates said they would support eliminating bonuses and would ban gifts from lobbyists for members of the executive branch.

And all said they would support allowing the state auditor general to audit legislative accounts, which is not permitted under current law.

But they disagreed on the issue of how best to deal with passing a state budget by the July 1 deadline - a date the Rendell administration and the legislature have failed to meet for the last seven years.

Both Corbett and Rohrer contended that the last-minute negotiations and brinkmanship have been a deliberate bargaining tool used by Rendell to get key policies approved. They said there was no reason for a budget to be delivered late, and they vowed to work with the legislature to ensure that did not happen.

Hoeffel said he would not sign off on any spending plan that included so-called walking around money, or WAMs. Those are funds that lawmakers receive to disburse to special projects and organizations in their districts.

Williams took issue with the criticism that WAMs often are little more than slush funds for lawmakers' pet projects.

"The YMCA is not a slush fund," Williams argued.

Williams also said he would support not paying lawmakers and top members of the executive branch if they did not get a budget done on time. Wagner agreed, adding: "There needs to be a hammer in the process."

The candidates also disagreed on whether to hold a constitutional convention. Williams argued that there were dangers in opening up the constitution, adding that it could give ammunition to every special interest to make changes with wide-ranging impact on personal freedoms.

But the other five said doing so was necessary to achieve some of the reforms talked about Wednesday night, including making the legislative-redistricting process less political - although Corbett noted that politics would always factor into the equation.

"Gerrymandering is alive and well in Pennsylvania," said Onorato, adding that he would support amending the constitution to establish a "truly independent" commission to make redistricting decisions.

On the issue of campaign finance reform, all four Democrats said they would support limits on the amount that individuals and political action committees could donate. Williams said he would not award a contract to anyone who donated to his campaign.

Corbett said limits could also end up benefiting incumbents. Rohrer said that he would not accept money from special interests.

Wednesday's forum was sponsored by the Committee of Seventy, the Common Cause Education Fund, the community college, and the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters.