The New York Times today heralded a brand new law in the Empire State that will for the first time allow Albany to assume broad oversight of state authorities.  Every authority, from the Long Island Power Authority to the Thruway Authority, will have a ton of sunshine cast on its books, its practices and its personnel. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/nyregion/19albany.html

In the new law are changes that force authorities to reveal more detailed financial plans and allow the state comptroller to audit any contract of more than $1 million that is awarded noncompetitively.  Some authorities will no longer be able to appoint leaders without Senate consent. The new rules would also restrict the sale of land at below-market values, a practice intended to spur development that has been abused by authorities over the years.

This is pretty bold stuff for a state not generally known as a leader in open government.  So what does this have to do with Pennsylvania?  We are glad you asked.

Over the past few years in Pennsylvania, a new Open Records Law was passed, giving the public unprecedented access to government information.  Recently, Auditor General Jack Wagner called for sweeping reforms to how contracts are awarded for government services.  Candidates and lawmakers alike are calling for more competitive bidding on everything from who provides computer services to who supplies the toilet paper in state offices.

Just yesterday, Wagner called for a ban on controversial rate swaps that were extensively utilized in school districts and authorities across the state.  Swaps that the Delaware River Port Authority made in 2000 and 2001 provided the DRPA with $45 million, but the deals spawned $242 million in liabilities that are beginning to come due.  In Pittsburgh, the Water Authority also took on huge losses as a result of swaps, and then there is the matter of the Harrisburg Authority wrangling with the question of cost overruns on its incinerator, which is almost entirely under water.

See a trend here?  We do.  More access, more transparency, more eye-popping audits, questionable authority decisions and controversies,  and more regulation at the state and federal levels (Hey, Wall Street, how you folks doing?) will, in our judgment, inevitably lead to a New York style law being proposed right here in the Keystone State.  Now would be the time for all authorities large and small in Pennsylvania to begin thinking about how to deal with what we see on the horizon.

After all, nobody wants to lag behind New York.  Ask Phillies fans.