Today, my reform campaign ran the second of a series of full page ads in the Daily News where I poked fun at State Senator Vince Fumo's alleged misuse of taxpayer and charity money for personal and political purposes. (The Daily News is 60 cents - go buy a copy. They have a nice comics section.)

Though the fraud and corruption detailed in the Fumo indictment are dramatic and infuriating, the issues in Harrisburg are much larger than Fumo himself. The problem is that our legislature is broken, unwilling to operate in the light of day, and unable to reform itself.

For too long, Pennsylvania government has been corrupt and content, and the voters have grown frustrated. When the General Assembly gave itself an illegal pay raise in a late night vote on fourth of July weekend in 2006, voters of all political stripes joined together in a populist revolt and threw out dozens of lawmakers from around the state.

To me, the pay raise was just one well-publicized example of the kind of institutionalized self-dealing that is seen as acceptable in Harrisburg. I remember being dumbstruck when a Philadelphia legislator defended his decision by emphatically saying "we were acting like a union". I thought to myself, "No, you were acting like a wayward Board of Directors, high-fiving each other as you give yourselves a big pay-off while the company falls into bankruptcy."

In many ways the government of Pennsylvania is like a business. We, the citizens of Pennsylvania, pay the government (the Legislature, Governor, and Courts) to operate that business, and we receive services in return. But Pennsylvania's government has bloated overhead and is rife with inefficiencies. This leaves the state with little money for new programs (expanded health care, after school programs . . . ), and unable to deliver on it's existing commitments (quality public education, bridge maintenance . . . ).

How bad is this situation?

Consider this:

As a percent of the total state budget, Pennsylvania has the most expensive legislature in the nation. We spend half a billion dollars each year just to fund and staff the General Assembly, which employs 3,000 staffers. Many of these staffers are amazing public servants who play a crucial role in the operation of state government. However, too many staffers and legislative aides are apparently being paid for electioneering. Over the past two years, the General Assembly paid out millions of dollars in bonuses to aides who spent months on the campaign trail -- 80 of the 100 largest bonus recipients worked on re-election campaigns.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Democratic and Republican lawmakers spent over $500,000 in taxpayer money on political polling; and a recent raid by the Pennsylvania Attorney's General office found box loads of "opposition research" in the Democratic House research office. The House also spent $6 million in "public service" ads for incumbent politicians leading up to the 2006 election. Taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill for re-election advertising or for research on how best to throw mud at political opponents.

So how do we rectify this situation?

One: Support Josh Shapiro and legislators like him. There are real reformers working to change Harrisburg who haven't been jaded or corrupted, and they need more like-minded individuals to join them as allies for reform. By voting for reform at the ballot box, we can send another shock wave around the capital.

Two: We need to press for serious and immediate reforms. Pennsylvania needs a real Right-to-Know Act that will cover the General Assembly, a cap on political donations in line with federal guidelines, and a massive reduction to the General Assembly's 215 million dollar slush fund. Don't settle for political theater that so often trades real reform for reformist news headlines.

Three: And this is for our sitting incumbents and officials. Stop acting like members of an exclusive club and expose the wrong doing of your fellow legislators. You are employed to represent the taxpayers and citizens of Pennsylvania. That is where your loyalties must lie.

Four: Organize. Get out there, and be the town-crier, the voter education drive leader, and the public advocate. Show that grassroots democracy is alive and well.