Time to fix broken state government

Calls for a limited constitutional convention offer a starting point for real change in Pennsylvania.

It’s time: 2017 is proof that left to its own devices, state government will let us down.

The litany of our grievances is long and it’s loud. But mostly, today’s shortcomings center on Harrisburg’s ignoring the ideal that government “derives just powers from the consent of the governed.”

Those words are from our Declaration of Independence.

So are these: “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it.”

The merits of a continental ideal from 1776 are undiminished when applied to a state in 2017.

We believe it is time for the people to alter the Pennsylvania Constitution and rally to the call of Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, and Rep. Steve Bloom, R-Cumberland, for a limited constitutional convention.

There’s still no compelling argument to keep this ceremonial post when other states have found a better way to do it.

A limited constitutional convention is understood to mean that the goal, and the work, of the convention is to be limited to how our state government operates. Bloom and Eichelberger riff on the last one in 1967 as basis of the next one.

Fifty years later, so many things we see (budgets remain unbalanced and unsigned, the arrogance of unrestrained spending in the Lieutenant Governor’s office, earmarks clearly written to circumvent the law) demonstrate that our state government is broken.

Eichelberger and Bloom are right when they say: “Unfortunately, major reform has always been difficult to accomplish in Pennsylvania — it’s slow and incremental, and rarely successfully makes its way through the entire General Assembly.”

Of course, calling for change for the sake of change isn’t quite good enough. The actual changes are what matter most. Bloom and Eichelberger have a few issues they want their proposed convention to focus on.

We do, too. Here are some things we would like to see addressed:

— Reduce the size of the government: While we can be persuaded that a full-time Legislature has some merit, we are convinced that members in the General Assembly, with each member representing more people, do not reduce effective representation. We say downsize. Begin that process by eliminating the office of Lieutenant Governor.

— Establish mandatory public financing for campaigns. Or, failing that, hard limits on contributions. Right now, only direct corporate contributions are banned. Otherwise, the sky’s the limit.

— Develop term limits for legislative leaders and committee chairs.

— Create language that would ensure that the shenanigans would be taken out of the budget process (And yes, Gov. Wolf, we remembered when you bristled at such a description when you met with us, and still, here we are). Specifically, we want the General Assembly to forward to the governor a budget that contains both spending and revenue simultaneously, and on time. We support the idea of a line-item veto on both the revenue and spending side by the governor. And we specifically want language that states if it’s not signed, it’s not law. No more ducking. And if there’s no on-time budget, there’s no pay for lawmakers.

— Consider language that states if the Legislature cannot forward such a budget to the governor on time, that the current year’s budget becomes next year’s budget, as is. We’re more than happy to consider letting the Assembly own that failure and stand for re-election accordingly.

— Set up merit selection for judges on county Courts of Common Pleas and the statewide judiciary.

— Create clear guidelines and process for the drawing of legislative districts, both state and federal.

— Provide clarity in the language concerning earmarks. If FIFA (of all organizations!) can place language in the rules of soccer about “trickery” regarding passes to goalies, we can certainly insert language that bars writing budget expenditures so that that only a specific entity is covered by the language.

We know that others will have their own suggestions. They should be put forward. They should be heard. The best ideas should be acted upon.

It is, to paraphrase the founders, our right, our duty, to throw off such government.