Pennsylvania has a legislative fairness score of zero because its current legislative procedural rules (“the Rules”) allow just a few partisan leaders in positions of power complete control over which bills get a vote. A bill with strong bipartisan support should be guaranteed a vote in committee. If that bill is voted favorably from committee, it deserves a vote on the chamber floor; if that bill passes that chamber with bipartisan support, the other chamber should respect that work with a corresponding vote. That is too often not happening in Harrisburg.
This situation is exemplified by the charter school funding issue in Pennsylvania, where over 440 of 500 PA public school districts, including Quaker Valley, Ambridge and Avonworth adopted a resolution calling for the legislature to reform the existing flawed charter school funding system to ensure that school districts and taxpayers are no longer overpaying or reimbursing charter schools for costs they do not have. Although HB 272, a bill to reform said funding, had strong bipartisan support, it never got a vote. This scenario has occurred with many other worthy bipartisan bills. Other states have procedures like automatic calendaring of bills and requirements that committees hear or report all bills, so leaders are less able to block legislation and overrule a bipartisan majority.
Legislative rules aren’t written in law; they are reintroduced and can be changed at the start of each session. Please urge your legislators to do all they can to ensure bipartisan bills get a vote in committee, on the floor and in the other chamber.
Cheryl Rampelt
Sewickley
