Pennsylvania Incumbent Protection Plan

Pennsylvania Incumbent Protection Plan

By Leo Knepper

A recent report from LancasterOnline outlines the cost of one component of the “Incumbent Protection Program” operated by the General Assembly:

“Welcome to the state Capitol, where elected officials and their staffs operate a massive, sophisticated and partisan media machine that costs taxpayers nearly $10 million a year at a time when the number of journalists serving as watchdogs on government is shrinking…In a building home to one of the largest, most expensive legislatures in the country, there are at least three of these television studios built to produce state-run, news-like programs for state lawmakers.” (Emphasis added)

That’s right, $10 million per year to operate three television studios and an impressive public relations (PR) operation. Each of the four caucuses operates their own private, tax-payer funded, PR firms. These slick PR operations produce everything from news-letters to tele-town halls to professionally made videos of lawmakers touring businesses in their districts.

Lawmakers would argue that all of these expenses help them to connect to their constituents. One has to wonder how many of these “essential” communication attempts would be made if lawmakers were term-limited. Or, if they weren’t trying to hold onto an $85,000 per year salary and a golden parachute.

The PR expenses are only one component of a system that the General Assembly has built up over time to protect themselves from the electoral competition. This year, the legislature has a budget of over $350 million. They abuse this system to build their own name ID and ensure they enter every electoral cycle with an advantage that is costly to overcome. Communicating with constituents is one thing, but most of these expenses don’t even pass the laugh test as being necessary to accomplish that goal.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Incumbent Protection Plan
Pennsylvania Incumbent Protection Plan

One thought on “Pennsylvania Incumbent Protection Plan”

  1. “One has to wonder how many of these “essential” communication attempts would be made if lawmakers were term-limited. Or, if they weren’t trying to hold onto an $85,000 per year salary and a golden parachute.”

    Pa. House Representatives do have term limits- 2 years. Same term limit as the Federal House.

    If a Representative are elected to another term beyond that first term, don’t blame the Representative. Blame the uniformed voting public that are re-electing encumbants simply because they are already in office and not based upon their performance.

    Fact is, if a Congressman is given a limit of let’s say one or two terms – what exactly will that do to raise the political savvy of the voting public? Will not the same mentality that elected a Representative say like Nancy Pelosi or Maxine Waters or Jerry Nadler etc. have been altered because they have to vote someone else in?

    Long term Congressman Joe Crowley was replaced by AOC. How much good did that do?

    The problem isn’t the limit of term. The problem is an electorate that settles for its opinions spoon fed to them by a biased media rather than learning what the original intent of both the Federal and State Constitutions should be. Then, holding a representatives feet to the fire if they ignore their oath of office to uphold their adherence to it’s limitations.

    Term limits will do nothing to change that mentality as would gun control change the mentality of criminals willing to use them to commit crimes. Minds change internally.

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