Sen. Phillips-Hill, Rep. Grove to offer constitutional amendment to increase transparency in government spending

Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York) and Rep. Seth Grove (R-Dover) announced their intentions Tuesday to offer a constitutional amendment designed to create a more transparent process for government spending.

The proposal would require any additional supplemental spending by the governor and their administration to be voted on in a standalone bill, rather than added to the state budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.

“The people deserve to know exactly how much money is being spent each year. The current system of planning to spend next year’s money to cover this year’s non-legislatively approved expenses is disingenuous to residents,” Grove said. “In order for people to trust their lawmakers, government must first take steps to gain that trust. We believe requiring the executive branch to explain and request legislative approval for any and all spending over-and-above the approved budget is transparency Pennsylvanians rightly deserve.”

Grove noted in a press release that in Fiscal Year 2018-19, Gov. Tom Wolf spent $673 million more than the allotted amount in the approved state budget.

“We have major reservations about the process by which this administration and prior administrations have tacked on additional bills to be paid by taxpayers, but not authorized by the General Assembly until the following year,” Phillips-Hill said. “Lawmakers and the governor come together each year to figure out how we pay for state government operations for the ensuing year. Any overspend from that agreed-to amount should be addressed separately, which is what this proposal will do. We believe this approach will give the voters the ultimate choice in significant budgetary reforms.”

For the constitutional amendment to be approved, the General Assembly must approve the legislation in two consecutive sessions, and voters must approve it in the ensuing election.