Oct. 06, 2023 / Press Release
HARRISBURG -- Late Wednesday evening, just before midnight, the Democrat-led House Appropriations Committee adopted a never-before-seen amendment to an Election Code bill, according to Rep. Thomas Kutz (R-Cumberland), who is a member of the committee.
Rather than make the proposal available to the public for review, members of the committee received the amendment just minutes prior to the vote. Additionally, the meeting was held after 11 p.m., despite the rules of the House, which prohibit session from being held prior to 8 a.m. or after 11 p.m.
“Elections must be free, fair, safe and secure; and election reforms are necessary to safeguard
the democratic process,” said Kutz. “However, changes to our Election Code deserve thoughtful vetting, public input and discussion, not to be rushed through at midnight the day before consideration by the full House. We must be more intentional when making decisions like those laid out in
Senate Bill 224.
“We cannot make changes to election law under the cover of darkness. The public and stakeholders must be able to provide input. When we have an amendment to our Election Code running at 11:45 p.m., we can't possibly consider it fully or allow constituents to weigh in. Elections are the bedrock of our republic and it's so dangerous to make changes without public input. This undermines faith in our government.”
For these reasons, Kutz said he voted against the bill which failed in the House on Thursday.
To listen to his comments on Senate Bill 224, please click
here. To download it for publication, click the three dots in the lower right corner and then select “download”.
Questions about this or any other state-related issue can be directed to Kutz’s office at 717-975-2235.
Representative Thomas Kutz
87th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Katelin Morrison
717.260.6502
kmorrison@pahousegop.com
RepKutz.com / Facebook.com/RepKutz