Legislator Announcements: Useful Information or Useless Dribble?

Written by Roberta Biros

I am currently on the automated email lists of many, many Pennsylvania State Legislators. I use my daily inflow of email announcements and twitter posts to stay on top of things that are happening in Harrisburg. I use these tools to keep a close eye on the activities of both Republicans and Democrats alike.

I’ve been busy for the past few days and I haven’t had an opportunity to file away these messages as they were received. For that reason, I was left this afternoon with an inbox packed full of messages. When you see all of the messages all at once, it gives you a new and fresh perspective, and I thought I’d share my thoughts with you.

First let me say that I received no email announcements from Democrats today. All of the announcements that I received were from PA House GOP members. The overview list below describes the email announcements that I received this morning:

• State Rep. Curt Schroder: Schroder Urges Federal and State Authorities to Investigate Allegations of Tax Evasion and Other Criminal
• Representative Brad Roae: Roae Supports Taxpayers at Harrisburg Rally
• State Rep. Rosemarie Swanger: Skyrocketing Costs for Universal Health Care?
• State Rep. Tom Creighton: Skyrocketing Costs for Universal Health Care?
• State Rep. Sam Rohrer: Skyrocketing Costs for Universal Health Care?
• Representative Michele Brooks: Pennsylvania Travel Guides Available at Brooks’ Offices

The first announcement by Rep. Schroder is a newsworthy announcement regarding possible wrongdoing by video poker distributors in Pennsylvania. As with most announcements by Rep. Schroder, it was detailed and interesting “news”. The announcement was useful, so I republished the content in my blog PAGovWatch.com to help to spread the word.

The second announcement was by Rep. Brad Roae (of Crawford County). Rep. Roae lets folks know that he was involved in the Taxpayers Protest in Harrisburg on Tuesday. In the announcement, Rep. Roae discusses issues of the budget and spending. Again, I found it newsworthy and republished the content to share the information with others.

The third, fourth, and fifth announcements came from three different legislators, but it was the same darn announcement simply regurgitated. This is a tactic of the PA House GOP that is a bit annoying (from the prospective of someone who receives email newsletters from so many legislators). When legislators have no announcements of their own to discuss, they just cut and paste the same text into multiple automated email messages. I personally hate it, and I try not to republish these types of announcements, but I suppose it is a useful tool for those folks that only receive an email from their own local legislator. In this particular case, the content of the messages was regarding the issue of Health Care with which I disagree on a number of levels. These three went into my trash bin.

Of the announcements referenced above, at least all of them were regarding legislative, fiscal/budget, or issue based content. The last announcement, however, came from the office of Rep. Michele Brooks (Mercer/Lawrence/Crawford Counties). The most important news that Rep. Brooks had to share with her constituents was that she offers free Pennsylvania Travel Guides in her offices. Earlier this week I published a similar announcement from Rep. Brooks regarding the availability of State Fair Guides. I thought it was useful because the guide could be downloaded and printed through an on-line link, and I was personally interested in getting the fair schedules for my own personal use. However, is this the only type of “news” that Rep. Brooks has to offer the people of our area? Did nothing happen in Harrisburg this week that was newsworthy? Does she not feel that her constituents are interested in reading and understanding complicated issues or details?

Don’t get me wrong . . . I’m not knocking Representative Brooks on this. At least she uses the medium at some level. It is a FREE way for legislators to get the word out about the business in Harrisburg and about issues of local interest and it should be used more. There are some lawmakers that don’t use email newsletters at all, and I find that sad.

I’m also not knocking Reps. Swanger, Creighton, or Rohrer for sending out unimpressive and unoriginal content. I support the frequent use of the email announcements from Legislators. I think it is a great tool for keeping people posted about important issues. Even if they don’t have anything personal to share, they still use their newsletters to keep people apprised of recent news.

I wish, however, that more Legislators would use the tool to “inform” rather than “promote”. Information and updates from our legislators allow us to decide if a lawmaker is making a difference in Harrisburg (or not). I’m well informed of the actions in Harrisburg of all of the above lawmakers. There are some, however, that could do a better job of sharing “significant” information. I know they’ve all been involved in important issues of late, and we would simply like to hear more . . . straight from the horses mouths.

.