NEW: Common Cause Calls for more Public Deliberation on Pension Bill
GoLocalProv News Team
NEW: Common Cause Calls for more Public Deliberation on Pension Bill
"While the General Treasurer has deemed her proposed amendments to be purely 'technical' in nature, at least one appears to make a major change that was the result of an erroneous factual assumption affecting the substance of the original legislation," says John Marion, Common Cause executive director. "The original version of the bill assumed the State Police receive Social Security benefits, when in fact they do not. The need for a close public examination of this bill and any further proposed amendments has never been more apparent." The discrepancy in State Police benefits was only brought to light by media scrutiny, something future amendments will not have if they are not released in advance.
When the House of Representatives introduced the Retirement Security Act on October 18th (unlike the Senate) it passed a special rule requiring all floor amendments be submitted to the General Assembly staff 48 hours in advance. Common Cause believes those amendments, as well as amendments that may be proposed at the committee stage must be made public in advance of adoption or rejection. To do otherwise will undermine the ability of citizens to communicate with the elected representatives, and will erode public trust in the legitimacy of the legislative process. Changes to the bill should be discussed openly, not only in official or unofficial private political party caucuses, and the amendments should be subject to necessary public scrutiny before final consideration by each chamber of the General Assembly.