Pa. House solicits ideas via new e-mail address

HARRISBURG - A special House panel studying the need for legislative reforms has established an e-mail address to which people can send ideas for improving the lawmaking process.

"We want to make sure that we are sending a new signal" from the House, said Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery), one of two cochairmen of the 24-member bipartisan commission.

The e-mail address is reform @pahouse.net.

The Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform, which held its first meeting yesterday, will focus initially on new rules to improve the way the House operates. It is expected to make recommendations by March 12, the earliest that the full House could vote on them.

Later, the panel plans to explore an array of broader government reforms, including restrictions on campaign financing, expanded public access to government records, and the imposition of term limits for legislators. That phase is not expected to begin before summer and could stretch into next year, said the panel's other cochairman, Rep. David Steil (R., Bucks).

House Speaker Dennis O'Brien (R., Phila.) established the commission earlier this month to underscore his commitment to reform in the aftermath of an electoral housecleaning that stemmed from the short-lived legislative pay raises of 2005.