State Representative PRSRT STD

Jim Christiana
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
HARRISBURG, PA
PERMIT NO. 529
15th Legislative District
Harrisburg Office: 53B East Wing � PO Box 202015 � Harrisburg, PA 17120-2015 � (717) 260-6144 � Fax: (717) 260-6506
Center Township District Office: 3468 Brodhead Road � Suite 9 � Monaca, PA 15061 � (724) 728-7655 � Fax: (724) 773-7802
Raccoon Township Satellite Office: Raccoon Township Municipal Building � 1234 State Route 18 � Aliquippa, PA 15001
Hours: Tuesdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (724) 643-7655 � Fax: (724) 643-7657

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

My first six months in office have been full of
Upcoming Events:
activity, both in Harrisburg, and in the 15th Leg-
islative District. Already I have introduced four
bills, each one calling for more openness in gov-
ernment, more accountability and more trans-
parency. I am working toward reforming how
Town Hall Meeting
business is conducted in the Capitol and across 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
the state. The first way we’ve restored trust is by
calling for all expenses to be posted online, for Hopewell Township Municipal Building
the entire checkbook of the state to be available
on an easy-to-use Web site.
Thursday, July 30
I have held a number of outreach events such
as a job fair to help job-seekers connect with em-
ployers who need good workers, a small business
forum to further understand the needs of small
Kidz Day
business owners and ensure they have the infor- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
mation they need to help them emerge from a
challenging economic climate stronger and more Beaver Valley Mall
competitive, an identity theft forum for seniors,
with representatives from the Office of Attorney Saturday, August 22
General, an information session with local offi-
cials on how to comply with the new open re-
cords law, and a number of town hall meetings to
hear the concerns of the people I represent.
I will continue to reach out to the people of
the 15th Legislative District throughout the year.
The 15th District is comprised of the townships
of Brighton, Center, Greene, Hopewell, Indepen-
dence, Patterson, Potter, Raccoon and Vanport,
and the boroughs of Beaver, Georgetown, Hook-
stown, Monaca, Patterson Heights, Shippingport
and South Heights.
If you haven’t been able to attend a town hall
meeting, please look for updates on my Web site
www.RepChristiana.com, follow me on twitter.
com/repchristiana or become a fan on Facebook.
I look forward to hearing from you. If you
have any questions, please call my district office Rep. Jim Christiana (R-Beaver) speaks at an April 30 legislative breakfast spon-
at (724) 728-7655, e-mail jchristi@pahousegop. sored by Heritage Valley Health System. Also in attendance were Rep. Jim
com, or stop by my district office in Center Marshall (R-Beaver) and Sen. Elder Vogel (R-47). They discussed the upcoming
Township at 3468 Brodhead Road, Suite 9. budget and took questions from the audience.

Notary Available
(Please Call for Appointment)

E-mail: jchristi@pahousegop.com
www.RepChristiana.com
 Christiana’s Proposal to Create PennWATCH
Discussed by House GOP Policy Committee
The House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing on June 18 on my bill calling for the creation of an online accountability and transpar-
ency Web site called PennWATCH, the Pennsylvania Web Accountability, Transparency and Contract Hub. PennWATCH will enable Pennsylva-
nia to join other states tracking government spending and contracts.
My proposal would make all state departmental and agency budget expenditures available online at one easy-to-use Web site, which would
include vendor information and lists of state contract awards. This will make it easier for Pennsylvanians to keep track of how government is spend-
ing tax dollars. We need to hold government more accountable.
At the hearing, spending transparency experts testified before the committee about their experiences supporting fiscal accountability and the
efforts of other states across the nation to create convenient online access to detailed state budgeting information.
House Bill 1460 would establish a searchable database on the Internet.
In addition to the 104 co-sponsors on the bill, there is an obvious move-
ment in Pennsylvania and across the country toward transparency in gov-
ernment spending.
The bill has been referred to the House State Government Committee
along with a companion bill amending the Right-to-Know Law requiring
contract information to be posted on the Internet.
On June 25, I held a press conference calling for more government
transparency. A bipartisan group of legislators stood with me in front
of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records in support of an online
database containing contract and state government expenditures
in one centralized and easy-to-use location. House Bill 1460 creates
PennWATCH and has 104 co-sponsors.

Christiana Calls for End to Christiana Proposes Stimulus

Pay-to-Play Politics
I have introduced a bill in a package of legislation to re-
form state contracting procedures that would institute a new
ethical code of conduct for executive branch employees in
state government.
This will help stop pay-to-play politics in Pennsylvania.
When a person is appointed to a position in the executive
branch, my proposal creates a 4-year blackout period – two
years prior to the appointment, and two years after govern-
ment service – prohibiting lobbying of the branch of govern-
ment a person worked for.
This will close the revolving door where people come into
the executive branch from the private sector, work on multi-
million dollar contracts that benefit their former employers,
and then leave state employment for a similar industry to
lobby for further lucrative contracts.
The goal of the bill is to create more transparency in the
process, which must include competitive bidding on large
state contracts, as opposed to contracts awarded to political
allies.
House Bill 385 has been referred to the House State Gov-
ernment Committee for consideration.
Oversight Council
In March, I joined Republican colleagues in calling for legislative over-
sight of how Pennsylvania is going to spend the $10 billion in economic
stimulus money it is expected to receive from the federal government.
My legislation called for a nine-member oversight board called the Stim-
ulus Oversight Council, comprised of representatives from all four cham-
bers of the General Assembly, organized labor, the business community, a
school district, and a local government.
Days later, the governor, by executive order, established a similar over-
sight committee, but failed to invite members from local government or
school districts to the table, and instead included three representatives from
the executive branch, in effect making the oversight council a rubber stamp
of his proposals to spend federal stimulus dollars.
For this commission to have any teeth, it must have the authority to
block stimulus expenditures that are not wise long-term investments in
Pennsylvania’s future.
Wasteful expenditures need to be blocked for there to be any real over-
sight.
House Bill 991, which would create the Federal Stimulus Funding
Oversight Council Act, has been referred to the House State Government
Committee.

Budget Realities
• Revenue collections for fiscal year 2008-09 were $3.25 billion below estimates.
• With the inclusion of the federal funds, there will be sufficient revenues to support our $27.27 billion budget that funds essential state
programs WITHOUT a tax increase.
•Even after announced cuts, the governor and his supporters are still proposing to increase spending to $28.9 billion, which would
require tax increases. If a Personal Income Tax (PIT) increase is not removed from the table as we are insisting - working families and
more than 80 percent of small businesses that pay the PIT would have to pay $1.5 billion more than they are now paying. It appears
that public pressure and our commitment to not supporting a tax increases has thwarted the governor’s plan to raise the PIT.
• The budget will include increases for each school district in the 15th Legislative District that are 3 percent above what schools received
this year, with schools averaging 6.3 percent more in the basic education funding than what was allocated last year.

Budget Outlook
• For the seventh consecutive year, Pennsylvania’s budget is late.
• Even during fiscal years with surpluses, no previous budgets under Gov. Ed Rendell have been enacted on time.
• In addition to proposing a 16 percent increase in the state Personal Income Tax, the governor has proposed increases in tobacco taxes
and seeks a tax on the development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas resource.

My Budget Opinion
• Missing this crucial budget deadline is reprehensible. The prospect of passing a budget by mid-July looks bleak, which could force state
employees to work without paychecks, closures at state facilities and suspension of state services.
• Pennsylvania does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending and expense problem.
• In the private sector, jobs have been cut, wages have been frozen, and belts have been tightened.
• Our governor wants to tax us more and spend more money than there is revenue.
• To learn more about budget transparency or view my stances on the budget process, video clips encompassing each week of the budget
crisis are available on www.RepChristiana.com.