Ghost Busting

There are three special elections this spring to fill state senate seats. In the 4th district, Rep. Leanna Washington is the endorsed Democratic candidate, to date no Republican candidates have formally entered the race. In the 16th district, GOP Rep. Pat Browne, is expected to face off against Democratic Rep. Jennifer Mann. In the 42nd there are a number of people jockeying to run in both parties and no endorsed candidates have been declared. One interested party is Rep. Mike Diven, who recently changed his party membership from Democratic to Republican. It is interesting to look at how these state representatives voted for HR 1, the house rules. The rules were changed this time around to allow representative to check in and then give their proxy vote to house leadership and disappear for the day, as long as they stay in the “greater Harrisburg” area, which remains undefined.

The state senate has similar rules already. It is interesting to look at how these prospective senators voted on the house rules. Leanne Washington voted in favor of the rule change. Jennifer Mann did also, although she said she did so only because the new rules also included regulations on gaming that she favored and did not want to vote against. Browne and Diven? I don't know.

What surprised me most while looking into this is that the way representatives vote is not easy to find. With two of the four I could find online versions of reputable print sources. What, you say, the information is not readily available? Well, no it isn’t. While the house posts a list of bills introduced and referred to committee and those voted upon, it does not post any information on who voted for what. If the local papers don’t provide this information voters are completely in the dark. Doesn’t this seem a bit odd?

Washington hasn’t announced any public meetings before the election. Browne and Mann will have a debate on March 23rd, 7p.m. at Cedar Crest College. If these folks are campaigning to represent you, you might go ask them about it. Maybe some official out there with some backbone will introduce legislation or a rules change so that voting records are made public. Any takers?