Welcome to The Royer Report!

The response from voters since announcing my candidacy has been absolutely tremendous. I’d like to thank West Chester area residents for your kind words and for your offers of support over the last few months. It’s nice to know that so many people closely followed my campaign two years ago and are enthusiastically supporting me in 2008. Again, thank you!

Because of the enormous interest people have expressed about my campaign since the beginning of the year, I thought it would be a good idea to add The Royer Report to my web site. The Royer Report will highlight some of my campaign’s activities and will allow me to share with you timely news items and commentary that impact Pennsylvanians. I hope you find this new feature a good addition to my web site.

Please check The Royer Report often for updates. In the meantime, feel free to email me at royercampaign@comcast.net if you have any questions or comments about the campaign.

Your support is appreciated!

Shannon

‘F’ is for failed freshmen

Sunday, January 20, 2008
By Brad Bumsted STATE CAPITOL REPORTER The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

HARRISBURG — Last year about this time, expectations were high for the 55 new members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate, many of whom were elected under the banner of reform in the aftermath of the 2005 legislative pay raise.

But last week Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp, a leading pay raise opponent, gave the majority of the class an F.

With some notable exceptions, there’s been a stampede among them to sign up for perks and pensions, Stilp says. Among the House Democrats, there’s been reluctance among freshmen to speak out against House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, in the face of a grand jury investigation of whether bonuses were paid to legislative staffers for political work, Stilp contends.

Stilp would himself get a failing grade in the eyes of many lawmakers who view him as a gadfly, running up the taxpayers’ legal tab by filing an unending stream of fruitless lawsuits.

That said, Stilp’s freshman class concerns are not unfounded. Too few have been willing to stand up against their leaders and set examples with frugal spending.

Commonwealth Foundation President Matthew Brouillette is a little kinder. He gives the freshman class is “C-minus — on a curve.”

There are lawmakers who earned A’s and many who earned F’s among the newbies, Brouillette says. The four caucuses in Harrisburg are leadership-driven, he reminded; it takes a lot to change things here.

“You can become an army of one and accomplish absolutely nothing,” he says. “Coalitions take time to build.”

Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Altoona, and Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, get high grades among the freshmen, according to several reformers.

In my view, Eichelberger — who stood up to sharp criticism from veteran senators at a State Government Committee meeting last year for sticking to his guns on term limits — is the clear MVP of the freshman class.

He refuses to put out constituent newsletters — widely viewed as taxpayer-financed propaganda — and shuns those ridiculous and costly Senate calendars. His staff cleans the district offices to save on janitorial costs.

You won’t get taxpayer-financed beverages in Ike’s office — most lawmakers’ small refrigerators are packed. He was the first lawmaker to introduce a bill to ban legislative bonuses and led the call for an investigation by the state attorney general.

According to his office, Eichelberger spent just over half of his expense budget — $13,558.27 — out of the $25,000 allotted. He spent $1,300 for postage out of a $26,500 account.

Folmer is turning down a state pension.

The MVP runners-up: Democrat Reps. Tim Mahoney of Uniontown and Eugene DePasquale of York

With a singular focus, Mahoney has led the way on pushing for a stronger open-records bill. He points out that some of the scandals burgeoning at the Capitol — like Bonusgate — could have been prevented through greater transparency.

DePasquale, with little fanfare, decided early last year to put his legislative expenses on the Internet — an unheard-of step in a system where getting such records is often akin to working through the bureaucracy of the Kremlin.

After that we are at the margins with a handful of other freshmen lawmakers, many of them from Central Pennsylvania, getting passing grades.

Brad Bumsted can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com

Images and text copyright © 2008 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from PghTrib.com

Reformers urge action on ‘integrity issues’ in Pa.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG — A coalition of government reform groups wants Gov. Ed Rendell to call a special session of the Legislature to act on what it calls “integrity issues,” such as campaign finance limits, reducing the size of the Legislature, imposing term limits for legislators, banning lobbyists from taking lawmakers to dinner and giving them gifts, and ending lame-duck sessions in November.

“Today is Day 921 since the pay raise of July 2005, and our government has done virtually nothing in law or [changes to the] constitution to improve integrity and prevent more of the scandals on parade that we have seen since the pay raise,” complained Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA.

League of Women Voters official Bonita Hoke called for changing the way legislative districts are redrawn after each 10-year census is completed.

“We need [impartial] redistricting reform to end the kind of bipartisan, incumbent-protective gerrymandering that describes the current map [of districts] drawn in 2001,” she said.

Other groups joining them included PA Clean Sweep, the Commonwealth Foundation, Common Cause/Pennsylvania, Taxpayers and Ratepayers United, and Rock the Capital.

They urged Mr. Rendell to call a special session this year to give people more confidence in state government, which has been rocked in the past three years by controversy over legislative pay raises, investigations into large bonuses for campaign work, the indictment of state Sen. Vincent Fumo on 139 public corruption charges and the arrest of former Rep. Frank LaGrotta for hiring relatives as ghost employees.

Mr. Rendell has called special sessions in the past two years on issues such as property taxes and energy, with limited success.

Russ Diamond of PA Clean Sweep suggested the special session on integrity be held during the summer, when the Legislature isn’t in regular session, on issues like taxes, the budget, transportation and the environment. Mr. Potts said the special session could perhaps be held on Thursdays and Fridays, when legislators aren’t normally in session.

Rendell aide Chuck Ardo said the governor has publicly supported a smaller Legislature, term limits for lawmakers and other reforms, but at this point sees no need to call a special session.

Harrisburg Bureau chief Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com

Royer announces run for state representative

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Daniel Kristie , Daily Local News

WEST CHESTER — Shannon Royer, the Republican who narrowly lost the 2006 race for the state House of Representatives’ 156th District seat, announced Monday that he intends to seek that seat again in 2008.

Before a standing-room-only crowd at the Chester County Republican headquarters, Royer said he intends to run on a “common sense” platform of lowering state spending, shrinking the size of the state Legislature and making sure education, not welfare, is Pennsylvania’s biggest expense.

He criticized the Democrat-controlled state Legislature for “increasing borrowing to $1 billion in debt service” and promoting a 2008 budget that called for spending at “two times the rate of inflation.”

He compared watching the Democrats’ performance in the House this year to watching “a slow-moving train wreck.”

He grouped Barbara McIlvaine-Smith, D-156th, of West Chester, the candidate who beat him by 28 votes in 2006, with those train-wreck Democrats, although he did not offer any criticism of her individual voting record.

Attempts to reach McIlvaine-Smith for comment Monday were unsuccessful.

According to a spokesman for the Chester County Republican Party, no other members of the GOP have expressed interest in running for the 156th District seat.

The Republicans’ support for Royer therefore seems assured, although the party won’t announce its official endorsements until late January.

After criticizing the Legislature’s 2007 performance, Royer outlined initiatives he would promote if elected to the House.

Among other initiatives, he said he would decrease the size of state government; implement term limits for legislators; work to cap spending so that it matches the rate of inflation; and make sure educational spending outpaced welfare spending.

He also said he would try to get the state to convene a constitutional convention in which “regular citizens” and not politically well-connected types would participate.

He talked about working on property tax reform that would give “relief to our most vulnerable residents: senior citizens,” and income tax reform that would let “families keep more of their hard-earned money.”

In addition, he spoke about treating the state’s health care problems by offering tax incentives to employers who set up health care savings accounts.

He said he would promote energy bills that would increase production of Pennsylvania-grown ethanol, thereby decreasing the state’s dependence on foreign oil.

He concluded, “I want to help restore people’s faith in our House of Representatives.”

Chester County Commissioner Carol Aichele and West Chester Mayor Dick Yoder spoke at Royer’s campaign announcement, and during each of their remarks they dwelt on the very narrow margin by which the candidate lost in 2006.

“I owe Shannon an apology,” Yoder said. “I truly do, because I didn’t work hard enough the last time. I could have gotten those votes.”

He then implored all Republicans in attendance to “work a little bit harder” to get Royer elected.

Aichele thanked Royer for supporting her in previous elections and praised him for his intelligence and determination.

Royer “is wise beyond his years,” Aichele said. “People in Chester County have high expectations for holders of political office. They want them to be honest and work hard. No one works harder than Shannon Royer. They want to know that when the dust settles, they’re going to be better off for having put Shannon Royer in office.”

Royer’s political experience includes two terms on West Chester Borough Council and a position as regional coordinator for the state House of Representatives.

The 156th District includes West Chester Borough, the townships of East Goshen and West Goshen, and the southern portion of East Bradford Township.

To contact staff writer Dan Kristie, send an e-mail to dkristie@dailylocal.com.