CleanSweep candidate Harris Martin (D -- House 18th) signs on to Roadmap for Reform platform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/27/2006
Bensalem, PA
Contact 215-208-5264
electmartin@yahoo.com

18th House District PA CleanSweep Democratic candidate Harris Martin announced today that he fully supports the Reform Coalition and its Roadmap to Reform platform.

The Reform Coalition includes Common Cause, the Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy Rising PA, PA Citizens for Legislative Accountability, League of Women Voters of PA, RocktheCapital.org, Stop the Pay Raise, Inc., and the Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania. Martin salutes these organizations for doing the right thing. As a Democratic candidate, Martin believes that these reforms deserve the support of Democrats, progressives, and reformers of all stripes.

Martin signed the CleanSweep pledge months ago expressing his opposition to the 2005 legislative pay raise and pledging to support voter referenda for future legislative pay raises and a 10 day public comment period for all legislation prior to being voted on.

Martin supports the proposals of the Reform Coalition for:

Lobbyist Control -- Ban lawmakers from taking gifts and entertainment from lobbyists and require lobbyists' disclosure

"Over by October" -- End lame duck legislative sessions

Open Records -- Pass an open records law for the legislature and require an online monthly accounting of each lawmaker's expenditures and salary/benefit information

Access to Legislator Voting Records -- Publicly post all legislative votes within 24 hours

Citizen Opportunity Period (COP) -- Similar to the PA CleanSweep proposal to allow time for public comment on pending legislation

Elimination of Perks -- Make lawmakers health care insurance benefits consistent with the private sector

Campaign Finance Reform -- Ban fundraisers while the legislature is in session

Nonpartisan Reapportionment -- A bipartisan reapportionment commission should have a non-partisan tie breaking voting Chair and districts should be geographically compact and contiguous and follow municipal boundaries as much as possible

Competitive Elections -- Some of these reforms and other reforms described below will make elections in Pennsylvania more competitive

A General Constitutional Convention.

Martin also supports:

A proposal of the House Democrats and the Republican pro-reform Jefferson Reform Initiative to remove the authority of the leadership-controlled House Rules Committee to insert substantive changes into legislation, which avoids full committee hearings (Bucks County Courier Times, 5-26-06).

A package of reform bills introduced in April by Senator Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia, including posting of legislative votes on the Internet within 24 hours after a floor vote and the online posting of legislative debates and proceedings known as the legislative journal within 30 days of a voting session (Allentown Morning Call, 5-25-06).

Martin also advocates the following reforms which can be found on his website at martin.bensalemdemocrats.com:

Eliminate Ghost Voting by legislators

Eliminate taxpayer funded campaign newsletters and TV commercials for incumbents that masquerade as public service announcements -- or give their electoral challengers equal access and equal time

Convert WAMs -- walking around money, into competitive grant programs or otherwise stop WAMs from being a way for incumbents to buy votes

Strengthen state open records and government in the sunshine laws and provide more effective means to enforce these laws at the state, county, and municipal level

Post all state laws on the Internet for public access

Review state statutes for outdated and unworkable provisions and abolish them

Martin encourages other PA CleanSweep candidates, Democratic candidates, and reform minded candidates of both parties to sign on to the Roadmap to Reform, and to pledge that once elected, they will form a bipartisan Reform Caucus in each house of the state legislature to work to enact these reforms into law.

Martin challenges his incumbent Republican opponent Gene DiGirolamo to sign on to the Roadmap to Reform or explain why he will not. In twelve years in the State House, DiGirolamo has done little or nothing to advance government integrity and legislative reform. He even voted in favor of Ghost Voting.