Pa. House panel votes to curtail power of secretive committee

HARRISBURG - A panel of lawmakers voted unanimously yesterday in favor of sharply limiting the secretive and powerful Rules Committee, a change that would reduce the ability of leaders to shape legislation in the House, which Democrats control.

The proposal from the Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform, similar to one it rejected five days ago, would make it much more common for legislative disputes between the House and the Senate to be resolved by a conference committee made up of lawmakers from both chambers.

If the entire House adopts the change, it would prevent the Rules Committee, dominated by the majority party's leaders, from making substantial amendments to bills the Senate sends over for concurrence.

"We are severely curtailing the power of the Rules Committee, almost making it nil," said the commission cochairman, Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery).

Larry Frankel, legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, called the Rules Committee recommendation "probably the most significant change that could have been made in how bills become law in this commonwealth."

In the other major vote yesterday, Democrats defeated a measure to select at random the members of the Ethics Committee, a body that has been criticized for inactivity. The committee of eight members, appointed by legislative leaders, investigates alleged violations by lawmakers of lobbying regulations, House rules, or the Legislative Code of Ethics.

Seven Democrats voted against the ethics proposal, and all 12 Republicans voted in favor. The commission's rules require nine members of each party to vote in favor of a proposal for it to be included in a package of changes the House will consider the week of March 12.

"I was a little disappointed, but we're going to have another bite at the apple," said the ethics measure's sponsor, Thomas Tangretti (D., Westmoreland).

The commission also voted to add language to the House rules to cover members indicted or convicted of crimes and to ban smoking in the House-controlled portions of the Capitol complex, including members' offices. Democrats defeated a four-term limit on serving as chairman of a single committee.

In votes taken over the last three weeks, the reform commission of Speaker Dennis M. O'Brien (R., Phila.) has endorsed, among other things, making all House financial records available to the public by e-mail and ending sessions at 11 p.m., absent "exigent circumstances."