Jan. 05, 2017
HARRISBURG – Rep. Rick Saccone (R-Allegheny/Washington) has announced his focus during the 2017-18 legislative session will be on redesigning government and cutting spending. Saccone, sworn in for a new term on Jan. 3, called on fellow lawmakers to join his efforts to protect taxpayers and increase transparency.
“Redesigning government and cutting spending will be tough work, but they are necessary,” said Saccone. “This work is not for the fainthearted. The taxpayer is awakened and expects results. Those who aren’t prepared for the hard work ahead should retreat to their safe spaces now. I will be happy to provide some of my granddaughter’s crayons for therapy. The rest of us need to gird ourselves for the battle against profligate spending and provide the taxpayer a much-deserved victory.”
Items on Saccone’s reform agenda include:
Rooting Out Conflicts of Interest: State law currently defines “immediate family members” for purposes of determining a legislative conflict of interest as a parent, spouse, child, brother or sister. Saccone’s plan would extend the definition to grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, nephews, in-laws and all spouses thereof.
Increasing Transparency: Public bodies, like school boards, can hold private, off-the-record “executive session” meetings to discuss sensitive information like school security or personnel matters. However, some have held secret meetings to circumvent the state’s Sunshine Law. Saccone is re-introducing his plan to strictly limit instances when a council or board may enter executive session and provide remedies for citizens to address abuses.
Limit Gifts to Public Officials: Saccone is re-introducing his bipartisan plan to strictly limit gifts to public officials that undermine the public trust in government.
Provide public access to Public School Collective Bargaining Agreements: The public should be included in the offers made in School contracts and have input before they are agreed to. This will give school boards leverage in negotiating to reduce costs.
The Taxpayer Savings Plan: Saccone will introduce legislation that insures any money saved in government will be sent to an escrow account so it cannot be spent on other programs but will help reduce the overall budget.
Ending Ghost Teaching: Saccone is introducing a bill to reverse current policy allowing teacher union representatives to continue drawing full-time salaries from a school district without teaching in the classroom.
During the last session, Saccone unveiled a budget plan to cut spending by 1 percent across the board, eliminating the need for tax increases and resulting in a small state surplus. He will be considering this plan again, or another like it, to avert tax hikes and reduce government spending.
“Taxpayers want smaller government, but Harrisburg is always reaching into their pockets asking for more,” said Saccone. “It’s time to not only stop fleecing taxpayers to fund bloated government programs but also to start the process of dialing back the scale and scope of government. We simply must turn more items over to the responsibility of the private sector and families.”
To find out more about Saccone and his legislative priorities, please visit
RepSaccone.com or
Facebook.com/RepSaccone.
Representative Rick Saccone
39th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Ryan Travis, 717.260.6335
rtravis@pahousegop.com
RepSaccone.com /
Facebook.com/RepSaccone