PRESS RELEASE: Hirsh to Piccola: "Too little, too late"
Hirsh comments on Piccola’s call for a Special Session on Ethics
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Friends for Judy Hirsh Pennsylvania Senate Campaign today released the following statement: "I am disheartened, but not surprised that our state legislature has let the citizens of Pennsylvania down yet again," Judy Hirsh said. "The recent charges made against current and former members and staff of the state legislature reinforces the ever-growing need to fix the way our state government is run.
"In an attempt to restore ‘the people’s confidence’ in the state legislature, Sen. Jeff Piccola called for a special session on ethics yesterday. His headline-grabbing talk of reform is a prime example of the empty talk that has failed the citizens of Pennsylvania for far too long. Quite simply, it is too little, too late.
"As a 31-year member of the legislature and the third-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership from 2001 to 2006, Sen. Jeff Piccola had ample opportunity to reform state government. Yet it is only in his third decade in the legislature that Piccola voted to limit the terms of a state legislator to eight years. It is only in his third decade that he proposed a measure to ban lobbyists, who represent special interest groups, from giving gifts to lawmakers, even though he has accepted more than $750 thousand in campaign contributions over the past eight years from these same special interest groups. And it is in his third decade that Piccola touts his efforts to take redistricting out of the hands of the state legislature after having voted in favor of gerrymandered legislative boundaries as far back as 1981.
"I am committed to change in the state legislature and will work to bring about necessary reforms to:
· Amend Pennsylvania’s ‘Sunshine Law’ to include transcripts from budget negotiations;
· Limit campaign contributions from individuals to $2,500 and from Political Action Committees to $10,000;
· Bring Pennsylvania in line with 30 other states that require lobbyists to report all expenditures on state legislators;
· Fully fund the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission to investigate ethical violations, impose fines, and make recommendations to the appropriate law enforcement officials.
"I believe that a thorough house-cleaning is the only way to achieve these goals. Empty talk of reform does not work. The citizens of Pennsylvania deserve better. Our state government must be held to the same ethical standards that Central Pennsylvanians hold to in their own lives."
Judy Hirsh is a Democrat from Susquehanna Township and has been a community leader for over 20 years. The married mother of three children, she is also the owner of a family-owned small business in Harrisburg.
For more information about Judy Hirsh, please visit www.judyhirsh.com.
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