From the Slush Pile.....

I actually sorted through one of the many piles of paper in my possession last week. Most of it went straight into the trash. It's just amazing but all the stuff that seems urgent when you get it becomes obselete if you let it gather dust for a year or two. In the pile was an article from the Sunday Patriot-News in Harrisburg. "Top of the List on Capitol Hill," 6/15/2003 (no author given, maybe no one wanted to take the blame!)

The survey is described this way:

To pierce the veil and find out the most -- and least -- influential state lawmakers, the Patriot-News sat down with 153 insiders -- mostly lawmakers, lobbyists and staff -- and, on condition of anonymity, peppered them with questions about the men and women who make Pennsylvania's laws.

It's a long article. I went through it with an eye for legislators in the tricounty area, and cannot claim an impartial eye. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the article. I'm just picking out a few things. Please do keep in mind that those voting may not have had an objective mind or pure motives for their choices. That being said, here are a few of the prizes awarded:

Biggest Senate Promise Breaker: Joe Conti (R-Bucks, not running for re-election this year), 50 votes. 2nd place is a tie between Terry Punt (R-Franklin) and Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery), with 21 votes each.

Least influenced by campaign donations:

In the House: [Greg] Vitali, 18 votes, [Paul] Clymer, 17 votes, [Sam] Rohrer, 16 votes

Most influenced by campaign contributions:

In the House: [John] Perzel, 31 votes, [Tom] Gannon, 24 votes, [Bill] DeWeese, 16 votes

The #1 Most Dudley Do-Right Lawmaker in the House was Greg Vitali (D-Delaware)

The votes were taken over 3 years ago so this is just presented for entertainment value. If you want the rest of the tallies you'll have to track down the full article -- it doesn't appear to be online.