HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania state Sen. Jim Brewster is asking state legislative leaders to hold a vote this month on his package of bills aiming to reforms perks provided to the lawmakers and eliminate per-diem payments.
Raises would be considered each decade following the U.S. Census and calculated by the Consumer Price Index instead of automatic cost-of-living adjustments each year.
Members of the General Assembly would be reimbursed for mileage instead of receiving a state vehicle lease and would be banned from accepting or soliciting gifts of any value.
“I am confident that if the leadership of our respective bodies would allow their members to decide the issue, the outcome would favor the transparency you profess to seek,” Brewster said in a news release. “Therefore, I request that the reform package – including the measure that ends ‘per diem’ payments – be scheduled for consideration in September.”
Brewster’s bills are pending before the Senate State Government Committee.
