Tim Potts – 6/28/06

This page was last updated on June 28, 2006.

Lobbyist bills are awful; Tim Potts - Democracy Rising PA; Beaver County Times; June 28, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“It’s disappointing that some editorial boards and opinion leaders are willing to settle for any of the awful lobbying control proposals now circulating in Harrisburg - Senate Bill 1, House Bill 700 and House Bill 2753.

“The argument that ‘something is better than nothing’ is simply false.

“Think about an insurance policy that you pay for year after year but when your home is destroyed, it doesn’t cover the damage. Think about a pension plan that you pay into all of your working life but when you’re ready to retire, it’s bankrupt.

“Laws that protect citizens against corruption by public officials are like insurance policies and pension plans. If they don’t work when you need them, they are far worse than nothing. They are a fraud.

“None of the lobbying control laws proposed so far will work when citizens need them, which is to say every single day of the year. We must insist on the best lobbying control law in America and oppose anything less.

“This year, taxpayers are spending nearly $9 million on a Legislative Reference Bureau whose job it is to draft legislation. Why won’t area lawmakers order the LRB to draft the best lobbying control law in America - and then pass it?”

[RWC] I don’t believe Mr. Potts helped his cause. Why? Nowhere in the letter does Mr. Potts provide any specifics for readers to latch onto. In summary, this letter simply repeatedly says, “it sucks” without providing any specific examples of what’s missing or what’s in the bills that shouldn’t.

I happen to agree with Mr. Potts and believe the legislation as reported is lame. For example, based on what I’ve read, all the reporting responsibility is on the lobbyist with no reporting requirement for the government employee (gift recipient). If nothing else, that would make it more difficult for you and me to track all the lobbyist gifts to Rep. John Doe. Note that I have not read the three bills and I’m relying on press reports. Therefore, my example could be in error.