PA Senate Passes Three Good Government Bills
A trio of good government bills went before the state Senate, Wednesday, and all three were approved unanimously. The highest-profile measure would allow for online voter registration, making Pennsylvania the 17th state to offer the option. “For the health of democracy, elections should be run as smoothly as possible,” ACLU of Pennsylvania legislative director Andy Hoover said in a statement. “Online registration can make the process more precise. That leads to less delay and fewer problems on Election Day.”
The other two bills are designed to promote government transparency by requiring lobbying disclosure information and campaign finance data to be filed electronically. Senate Republican leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware), the prime sponsor of the campaign finance bill, says the move is designed to increase timeliness, accuracy and transparency.
State Senator Rob Teplitz (R-Dauphin), who co-chairs the bipartisan, bicameral Reform Caucus, spoke out in favor of all three bills. “That’s what all of our constituents I believe want to see us doing – is creating openness, transparency, more accountability in government, more access to be able to vote,” Teplitz said on the Senate floor.
All three measures require House approval before they can be sent to the governor’s desk.
