MARK D. SCHWARTZ
Attorney at Law
Post Office Box 330
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010-0330
www.markschwartzesq.com
Telephone & Fax- 610 525-5534

August 29, 2014

Honorable Tom Corbett
Governor of Pennsylvania
Room 225
Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Honorable Joe Scarnati
Senate Pro Tempore
Senate Box 203025
292 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Honorable Samuel H. Smith
Speaker of the House
139 Main Capitol Building
Box 202066
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Re: Barring Felons from Lobbying Pennsylvania State Government

Gentlemen:

After having working for former Speaker K. Leroy Irvis in the late 1960s and mid- seventies, then serving into the 1980s as a member of Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission, I now no longer recognize the state government which I was once so proud to serve.

I have thought long and hard about why, over the last few decades, one public official repeatedly follows another when it comes to indictment and jail. Notwithstanding monetary and jail sanctions, officials remain seem to still emulate former Senator, now felon, Vincent Fumo.

What really sticks with me most recently is the sad irony of payments allegedly having been made to members in a building named after Speaker Irvis. I am told by those who are still active in the process as lobbyists, that the despite the litany of officials turned felons, that the environment is even worse when it comes to elected officials expecting us all to “pay to play”. One of the key elements of our justice system is the need for deterrence. This is simply not happening in Harrisburg.

You and your colleagues get elected by being tough on crime.  Yet you are not tough on your convicted colleagues. The circle of continued corruption remains unbroken because you welcome them back as lobbyists. Back at the trough they are proof positive that crime pays, and it pays really well.

Just one example is F. Joseph Loeper, a former State Senate leader. After his stint in jail, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers hired him as a lobbyist. This is when I stopped my membership. My understanding is that he has also represented the University of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia. What do these examples say about the legislative process, not to mention the people who hired him?

Just contrast how politicians treat garden variety criminals versus their fallen brethren?  Public reports indicate that Vince Fumo will soon be back at the trough, as a lobbyist. Absent your action to the contrary, it promises to be a love fest in Pennsylvania’s perverse tradition of coddling and enriching felons.

If you are serious about being tough on crime, there is a solution. Simple legislation passed by the House and Senate, then signed by the Governor would do the trick. Prior thereto, there could be an immediate Executive proclamation, or change in Senate and House rules that would respectively bar  former elected or appointed public officials convicted of felonies from lobbying the House, Senate, and Executive Branch of government.

If there is truly the will, my legislative experience tells me that this could happen promptly. If not, as they say, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Very truly yours,

Mark D. Schwartz, Esquire