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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	October 13, 2016 02:21 PM
From:	Senator Rob Teplitz
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Recognizing the week of December 7 through December 13, 2016 as “Government Reform Week”

In the near future, I will be introducing a resolution recognizing the week of December 7 through December 13, 2016 as Government Reform Week to highlight the need to restore trust in the way state government operates. The Center for Public Integrity’s State Integrity Investigation, released in November 2015, ranked Pennsylvania 45th in the country in government integrity, and Pennsylvania was one of eleven states that received a failing grade. Pennsylvania received an “F” in seven subtopics, including Political Financing, Electoral Oversight, Legislative Accountability, Judicial Accountability, State Civil Service Management, Ethics Enforcement Agencies, and State Pension Fund Management. However, a relative bright spot in the report for Pennsylvania is the state’s 4th place ranking for laws and processes that provide public access to government records. While the Commonwealth’s 4th place national ranking shows that progress has been made in the area of government transparency, the grade received by Pennsylvania indicates that the effort to improve government transparency must continue. Government Reform Week is a time to take stock of the function of state government over the past year, while looking forward to the reforms that should be enacted in the next year. Please join me in sponsoring this resolution, recognizing the week of December 7 through December 13, 2016 as “Government Reform Week.”

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