Of the ten recommended best practices for collaborative agenda-setting, Pennsylvania is the one of very few states with just one of these practices. That practice, “discharge petition,” has not been a successful route to collaborative agenda setting in Pennsylvania.
Neutralizing Agenda-setting
- Require committees to hear or report all bills
- Automatic calendaring
Majoritarian Rules
- Allow committee members to vote to place an item on the committee’s agenda
- Discharge petitions
- Motions to advance items on the floor calendar
Committee Composition
Committee chairs
- Norms dictating that some committee chairs be members of the minority party
- Limit the power of majority leadership to appoint chairs
- Allow the full chamber or committees themselves to elect committee chair
- Require floor confirmation of committee chair appointments
Committee members
- Require proportional partisan representation on committees
- Require floor confirmation of committee assignments
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