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Auditor General Jack Wagner, Democratic candidate for Governor, held a press conference this afternoon to discuss why systemic government transformation is needed and unveil his proposal to reform state government.
As he has traveled to all 67 Pennsylvania counties listening to citizens, voters have expressed serious concerns about state government heading in the wrong direction.
The train is off the tracks. Voters know that government is politically paralyzed and not serving people well or efficiently, Wagner said following the press conference. Structural reform is urgently needed. It is essential to growing jobs and the state economy, while keeping taxes low. Voters want competition, transparency, and accountability to improve government performance.
Wagner’s proposal to reform state government contains the following items:
• Hold a constitutional convention to empower citizens to bring fundamental reforms to state government
• Reduce the size of the General Assembly by 1/3
• Eliminate bonuses in state government
• Get state government spending under control
• Pass state budgets on time
• Bring competition to every single contract in the state procurement process
• Ban local governments from attaching risky derivatives/”swaps” to their debt
• Ensure that taxpayers receive property tax relief promised by gaming
• Enact campaign finance reform and end pay to play
• Allow independent voters to participate in Primary Elections
• Take the politics out of the redistricting process and promote nonpartisan, compact, and contiguous redistricting