CORBETT SILENT ON REFORMING WASTEFUL PENNDOT OFFICE – TALKS ABOUT CUTTING FIREFIGHTERS, TEACHERS INSTEAD

By ONORATO FOR GOVERNOR

PITTSBURGH: Attorney General Tom Corbett has joined Pennsylvania legislators of both parties in failing to denounce a secretive, wasteful division at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The “Legislative Services Division” at PennDOT was tasked with helping lawmakers process constituents’ driver’s license applications and vehicle registrations – the same services offered to Pennsylvania residents at local PennDOT offices. Governor Ed Rendell announced recently that he would eliminate the office.

“Pennsylvania taxpayers should not have to spend $2 million a year to subsidize Harrisburg’s insider culture,” Onorato said. “We need to make state government work better so that if a taxpayer has a problem they have confidence that it will get solved — without any special favors or political ties.”

The news service Capitolwire reported yesterday that House Speaker Keith McCall, D-Carbon received a standing ovation on the House floor Tuesday for a three-page letter he wrote to the governor in which McCall criticized Rendell’s decision to eliminate the PennDOT office. The extended round of applause began after Rep. Michele Brooks, R-Mercer, thanked the speaker, on behalf of her constituents, for the letter.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato criticized the Legislature for defending a wasteful agency dedicated solely to providing them with special treatment.

“It’s long past time for the Legislature to understand that Pennsylvania families do not want their tax dollars subsidizing the perks and privileges of Harrisburg insiders,” Onorato said.

While it was the “Bonusgate” grand jury that recommended cutting the PennDOT department in question, Attorney General Tom Corbett — who earlier this week said he sees no problem with firing firefighters and teachers to balance the state budget — has failed to join Onorato in calling for real government reform.

“Tom Corbett can’t have it both ways,” Onorato continued, “He can’t call himself a reformer while quietly accommodating the Legislature’s defense of the very culture Pennsylvanians are demanding we change. The only way we will reform state government is with an outsider with no ties to the current system. I have proven that I will take on the establishment to protect taxpayers. Tom Corbett has proven that he is just another Harrisburg insider who can’t change the broken system he’s part of.”

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