State Agency or Independent Agency?

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State Agency or Independent Agency? ©

By Jim Slinsky
03/29/08

You probably don’t realize it, but things are more than a little hot in Harrisburg right now. All the rage is HB1214, which changes a PGC Commissioner term to two (2), four-year terms with Senate reconfirmation required to serve the second term. The PGC is utilizing their new Legislative Liaison, Mr. Steve Smith to lobby our Senators hard to defeat this bill. Common sense dictates that the Agency probably could care less how long a Commissioner serves. Most likely, a few current Commissioners are pressuring the Agency to utilize their new Legislative Liaison to aggressively fight this legislation. Steve Smith is working the Capital doing his lobbying job.

While to some it might seem this is no more than business as usual, I have been trying to find in Title 34 where the PGC is authorized to spend sportsmen’s dollars to “lobby” legislators. When someone goes to Harrisburg to promote or defeat legislation, he is no longer serving as a liaison, he is now a lobbyist. That is fact. A non-profit organization that dares discuss legislation is in jeopardy of losing their non-profit status. Montana sportsmen have sued their Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks on these precise grounds. In PA, the situation is equally unacceptable with the PGC using sportsmen’s dollars to defeat legislation that our sportsmen have demanded. The PGC is using our own money against us.

When one finally comprehends what is happening here and calls the Attorney General’s office to complain, one gets a rude awakening. The AG’s office will tell you that the PGC is a state agency and as such they are required to defend the PGC, not prosecute them. You will be told that the “Commonwealth Attorney’s Act” requires the AG’s office to provide free legal defense for the PGC against all comers. If one gets mad at this point and calls the Inspector General’s office, a bucket of ice water will be thrown in your face. The IG’s office will tell you the PGC is an independent agency and as such they have no authority to pursue your complaints. How could this be? How can an agency be a state agency and an independent agency at the same time? In reality, the PGC has no governmental oversight in PA. Actually, the system is designed so you would need to appeal to the United States Attorney General’s office if you wish to pursue serious wrongdoing by the PGC. This scenario is the true cause of our sporting groups repeatedly appealing to our legislators in all matters concerning the PGC’s behavior and management.

While we frequently call the PGC an independent agency, are they really? Yes, they do raise their own revenue without help from the state’s general tax revenue. However, they can not hire and fire employees without permission from the Governor’s office. The Governor is deeply embroiled in the Commissioner selection process and most recently, DCNR has injected themselves into the process. Sportsmen have been the sole revenue source for the PGC for the past 100 plus years and we have no say in the Commissioner selection process. I’m confused. Anytime a State Game Land stands in the way of highway expansion or college expansion, the matter is quickly resolved and the PGC and our hunters come up short. Ask someone who works in the PGC’s office with an ear on the incoming phone calls and you will quickly realize that the PGC is a lot things, but an independent agency is not one of them.

The PGC is about to endure a rash of audits. A deer management audit is about to pass the legislature. Their resource revenue potential audit on state game lands is up next. I am hearing calls for a full-blown forestry audit of the PGC’s and DCNR’s forestry practices. These matters are coming to a head because there was no system of checks and balances weaved into the legislation governing their management practices. Given the opportunity state agencies will take their “discretion” to the extreme and eventually, contrary to the will of the people who finance their existence.

Change is in the air in Harrisburg. Our sporting class is demanding it. We have become too knowledgeable in the arenas of wildlife management, how a competent agency should act and what good government should do.

All of the above is about to hit the fan. The opening salvo is HB1214.

Jim Slinsky is the host and producer of the “Outdoor Talk Network”, a nationally syndicated, outdoor-talk radio program. For a station near you or to contact Jim, visit his website at www.outdoortalknetwork.com.

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