—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 15, 1973
14
Lawmakers Discuss Their Jobs
PennAg conventioneers
Thursday afternoon heard from
both sides of the aisle of both
houses of the Pennsylvania State
Legislature.
Without becoming either too
political or too controversial, four
state legislators gave the PennAg
Industries convention a look at
how the legislature works, and
what it might be working on in
the near future.
Sen. Franklin L. Kury (D-
Sunbury), recalled when he first
came to Harrisburg as a state
representative in 1966, “my office
was my briefcase. I had no desk,
no telephone and I had to use
secretaries from a pool.
Representatives now have desks
and private telephones and they
share secretaries with one or two
other representatives. Of course,
state senators have their own
offices.”
The other legislators on the
panel, Sen. Clarence F. Manbeck
(R-Fredericksburg), Reps. Kent
S Shelhamer (D-Berwick) and
George W. Gekas (R-
Harrisburg), agreed- that the
legislative process in Penn
sylvania has undergone con
siderable change recently.
Rep. Shelhamer said that the
state house is now “More open
and subject to the wishes of the
people.” He pointed to open
committee hearings, staff
changes and quick printing of
bills as examples of this.
The state senate too, has
changed, said Sen. Manbeck.
“We’ve restricted lobbyists to the
balcony. They used to get onto the
senate floor.”
Later Manbeck told the Penn-
Ag conventioneers, who oc-
casionally lobby for pro
agncultural legislation, that
lobbyists “have forced the
senators to isolate themselves. 1 ’
“I don’t think you mean isolate,
Clarence,” Sen. Kury quickly
added, “butlobbyists must not be
allowed to influence senators on
the floor,”
The panel discussion, which
was moderated by PennAg
Executive vice president Donald
W. Parke, was held on the second '
day of the three-day convention
at Host Corral.
From the shape of the Penn
sylvania legislature, the
discussion moved to substance
issues before state and - local
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An insight into the legislative process was presented to
PennAg conventioneers by four lawmakers on Thursday
afternoon during the annual PennAg convention at
Lancaster’s Host Corrall Motel. Seated left to right are:
governments.
Revenue sharing was the one
subject the legislators couldn’t
agree on. While Rep. Gekas
thinks revenue sharing
“reestablishes the local govern
ment as the bastion of freedom,”
Rep. Shelhamer said, “there are
no free meals.”
He elaborated, “revenue
sharing is just the federal
government giving its deficit
spending back to the local
governments. This may be the
first step in a takeover.”
The legislators said they have
a new problem this year with
another kind of revenue-taxes.
Because of the state budget
surplus, the legislature is faced
with giving Pennsylvanians some
kind of tax relief.
Two options are open to the
lawmakers, Rep. Gekas said.
“We can scale the flat tax down
below its current 2.3 per cent, or
we can give everyone a straight
$2,000 exemption,”
Rep. Shelhamer said that he
would prefer a reduction in
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business taxes. “If we remove
the pain from the flat tax, it will
be more difficult for the elec
torate to accept a graduated
income tax.”
All four men said the most
logical tax would be a “piggy
back” Pennsylvania income tax,
set at some percentage of an
individual’s federal income tax.
The state budget, called by Sen.
Kury, “the biggest hold we’ve got
on the governor,” was also
discussed. He said, “right now
the legislature is not equipped to
evaluate the governor’s request
for money.”
The four lawmakers also
seemed especially interested in
environmental matters. Two of
the four-Kury and Shelhamer
live on farms, while Manbeck
owns a poultry processing firm.
Gekas is a Harrisburg lawyer.
Sen. Kury outlined what he
thought were the two most
crucial areas: energy and the
location of power plants and flood
control.
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•4
Sen. Franklin L. Kury, Rep. George W. Gekas, Donald W.
Parke, PennAg executive vice-president, Rep. Kent S.
Shelhamer and Sen. Clarence F. Manbeck.
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