Pennsylvania Legislature Holds Onto $189 Million Surplus, with few rules

[JPZenger]

http://www.ydr.com/politics/ci_17608850

Excerpts:

"It's three times as much money as the state of Pennsylvania is spending on local public libraries this year. It's enough money to run the Pennsylvania's state parks and forests for a couple years. It's the Pennsylvania Legislature's surplus cash - $188.5 million - and such a large and unfettered surplus is nearly unheard of in other states. It's not just any cash surplus that will soon be spent to help paper over a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, but rather a long-standing cash pool that is jealously guarded by the Legislature, and outlasts nearly all serving legislators.

Justified as an emergency reserve to protect the balance of power should the governor cut off legislative funding in a budget battle, the Legislature nevertheless has created no special rules to limit the use of the money. It does not wall off the money to prevent it from being shifted to another legislative purpose -- which can be done by small committees of top lawmakers that meet in secret. The Legislature simply blends the surplus with the rest of the money it gets in every budget year -- making it impossible to know exactly which dollars paid for which expenditure.

Pennsylvania's Legislature is, based on a 2009 survey, was the second-most expensive at about $300 million a year to operate.
Rep. Josh Shapiro noted that the panel of eight lawmakers has unanimously approved a recommendation to adopt a policy that limits or eliminates the surplus."