DRPA Oversight Bill Clears Pa. Senate, House Is Next
HARRISBURG (CBS) - The state Senate has passed and sent to the House a bill that would make changes to Pennsylvania's oversight of the Delaware River Port Authority.
Amid calls for reform of the DRPA, suburban Republican John Rafferty, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, says the bill he sponsored would require Senate confirmation of the governor's appointees to the DRPA board and would also give the governor veto power over board actions -- power New Jersey Governor Christie now has.
"Governor Christie has been very helpful in that regard, on some of the resolutions that they've adopted for transparency and cleaning up the operations. The governor has said, 'no, no this isn't real reform. Go back and do real reform.'"
A third change in the bill, which would also require approval from New Jersey and from Congress, would prohibit people with a pecuniary interest in entities that deal with the DRPA from serving on the board. It's unclear whether the House will take up the bill in its final days of the current session, but Rafferty says Senate passage shows that lawmakers are serious about tackling the issue.
Reported by Tony Romeo, KYW Newsradio
