|
For Immediate Release
June 1, 2009
Contact: Nathan Flood
717-787-4420
Back
Senate Approves Brubaker Stimulus Oversight Bill
HARRISBURG – The Senate unanimously approved legislation
today that would provide transparency and oversight of all federal stimulus
dollars spent in Pennsylvania, according to the bill's sponsor Sen. Mike
Brubaker (R-36).
Senate Bill 6 would create a bipartisan 11-member
commission to track, monitor and report on all funds distributed to Pennsylvania
as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The bill would create
reporting standards for state agencies to determine exactly how and where these
additional funds will be used and require the state to establish a searchable
database of individual stimulus projects for the public to review online.
The Pennsylvania Commission on Stimulus Accountability will
also be asked to make recommendations to enhance the Commonwealth's ability to
create jobs and identify ways to prevent waste and fraud. The body will be
required to meet at least twice a month through Fiscal Year 2009-10 and submit
all reports and meeting transcripts to the Senate and House Appropriations
Committees.
"Stimulus dollars are intended to help put Pennsylvanians
back to work and maintain vital government services during the recession, and we
must make every effort to ensure that this funding is used to meet these goals,"
Brubaker said. "I would like to thank all of my colleagues in the Senate for
joining me in this bipartisan effort to protect this critical funding."
The commission will be made up of four members of the
governor's cabinet, one member appointed by each of the four legislative
caucuses, and three members of the general public appointed by the governor, the
Senate President Pro Tempore and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In response to the introduction of Brubaker's bill in
March, the governor created the Pennsylvania Stimulus Oversight Commission to
provide oversight for stimulus funds. However, the governor's commission lacks
the strict accountability and transparency standards included in Senate Bill 6.
Senate Bill 6 will now go to the House of Representatives
for consideration.
| 
