Pa. Senate passes bill to boost control over DRPA

The Pennsylvania Senate has approved a bill to give the governor and the legislature more control over the Delaware River Port Authority and to limit the DRPA's business ties to its board members.

The proposed law, passed Thursday, was the first DRPA-related measure to win approval this year in either house in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, as the states contemplate ways to rein in the troubled bistate agency. Other legislation is pending in Congress.

The DRPA operates four toll bridges and the PATCO commuter rail line between Pennsylvania and South Jersey. In recent months, the authority has come under fire for its spending and hiring practices, conflicts of interest, and lack of accountability and transparency.

Changing the charter that governs how the DRPA operates is not easy, requiring approval of the legislatures and governors of both states as well as Congress and the president.

But this year, because of concerns about the DRPA's pay-to-play culture and misuse of free E-ZPass privileges for employees, a number of proposals have been made in Harrisburg, Trenton, and Washington to alter the agency's federal compact, last modified in 1992.

The bill approved Thursday would make two changes that do not affect the federal charter and therefore require approval only by the state House and the governor. They would give Pennsylvania's governor veto power over the votes of his appointees on the DRPA board and the Senate the right to confirm the governor's six appointees to the agency.

New Jersey's governor already has veto power over DRPA actions, and the New Jersey Senate has power to confirm the state's representatives on the DRPA board.

The Pennsylvania bill, sponsored by Sen. John Rafferty (R., Montgomery), also would amend the federal compact to prohibit the DRPA from doing business with any company with financial ties to an agency board member.

That could affect the DRPA's long-standing practice of giving contracts and donations to law firms, financial companies, service companies, and civic groups with close ties to board members.

Rafferty said Friday that he had more proposed changes, to be introduced when the state's newly elected legislature convenes in January.

"I'm going to push for a lot more transparency and accountability," Rafferty said. "Oversight is critical. No one has paid much attention to the DRPA; it has been under the control of a few individuals on both sides of the river.

"They have to realize someone is watching."

Other bills in the states' legislatures also are aimed at the DRPA.

In New Jersey on Thursday, State Sen. Donald Norcross (D., Camden) and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester) introduced legislation to overhaul the DRPA, offering a package of five bills that would restrict spending and impose ethics standards on government agencies.

The DRPA bill would prohibit free tolls for employees, require board approval for travel expenses, ban corporate credit cards for employees, ban the acceptance of free tickets or other gifts, prohibit officials from going to work for DRPA vendors for two years after leaving the agency, and limit tuition reimbursement to 50 percent.

Last month, Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Vereb (R., Montgomery) and New Jersey Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco (R., Gloucester) introduced bills to make broad changes in DRPA operations, including requiring a two-thirds majority vote by the board on toll increases, creating a PATCO commuter council, banning charitable contributions by the board, and prohibiting DRPA managers from receiving their salaries until a biennial budget audit is complete.

And, in Congress, U.S. Reps. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) and Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.) last month introduced legislation to compel the DRPA to appoint an independent inspector general.

The bills in Congress and Pennsylvania's legislature have a short life. They will expire at the end of the current legislative session, but can be reintroduced after newly elected lawmakers are sworn in next January.

In New Jersey, they would have another year.

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