Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Attorney General Josh Shapiro recently released a Grand Jury report on the financial transactions of the Harrisburg incinerator of the 1990’s and early 2000’s, which was the focus of 2012 hearings of the Senate Local Government Committee resulting in a bipartisan package of proposed municipal debt reforms:

• SB 490 (Eichelberger): expand DCED review of Local Government Unit Debt Act (LGUDA) borrowings
• SB 491 (Blake): strengthen the Ethics Act to include municipal authorities
• SB 492 (Folmer): restrict so-called “swaps” transactions
• SB 493 (Eichelberger): close a loophole in the Public Works Contractors’ Bond Law to ensure adequate performance bonds

While a number of the Attorney General’s recommendations on the Harrisburg incinerator are covered by this package, some amendments will be necessary and three additional bills will need to be introduced to include all of the Attorney General’s recommendations and we hope you will consider cosponsoring them:

• Amend the Commonwealth Attorneys Act (Blake - will be SB 694): permit the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute city, county, and municipal officials and employees for crimes involving public corruption. Current law restricts the Attorney General to public corruption crimes of state officials and employees only;
• Amend the statute of limitations regarding public officials and employees (DiSanto - will be SB 695): clarify when the period to prosecute applies – especially when criminal conduct is not discovered until after a public official or employee leaves office, and;
• Expand public bidding requirements (Folmer - will be SB 696): require government entities – including local governments – to competitively bid professional services.

Please contact Luc Miron of Senator Blake’s office (787-6481; LMIRON@senatepa.com) or Fred Sembach of Senator Folmer’s office (787-5708; fsembach@pasen.gov) if you have any questions or would like additional information.