PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Campbell: Steil worked selflessly on our behalf
by Simon Campbell
With a typical lack of fanfare, the recent announcement by state Rep. Dave Steil that he is retiring from politics is a blow to our commonwealth. We live in a time when state legislators are constantly scourged by the media and in many cases, rightfully so. But Dave Steil never fit the mold of self-serving politician. I have known Dave for about two years and have perhaps gotten to know him better than many constituents, given our work together on the teacher strike issue.
Dave Steil is one of those legislators who actually care about improving Pennsylvania and he has that rare quality in a lawmaker: humility. He and I haven't always seen eye to eye. When the Pennsbury strike occurred, Dave helped launch a parental effort called Keep Students First, which I felt was misguided because their proposed solution to resolving teacher contract disputes was to enact compulsory binding arbitration.
Aside from binding arbitration being a lousy idea for taxpayers, many people felt it was unconstitutional, and therefore a waste of time anyway. Dave disagreed and a caucus legal advisor wrote an opinion to declare his proposal to be constitutionally sound. So I did what any troublemaker would do: I issued a statewide press release telling the world that Dave Steil was violating the Constitution and I likened his actions to that of the pay raise. Not exactly subtle! We weren't on speaking terms for about four months.
But then Dave did something that not many lawmakers would have done. He invited me to speak at the public hearing on his bill, knowing that I was coming to criticize it. At the hearing, lawyers from the teachers union and the school boards association testified that the bill was unconstitutional and case law was cited. Dave invited me to his office afterwards whereupon feeling vindicated I said "told you I was right!" Instead of continuing the argument, Dave started to talk about how we could move the issue forward. That's because advancing the policy of ending teacher strikes was more important to Dave Steil than winning any ego battle.
Not many people appreciate that the new legislation introduced this year to ban teacher strikes from chief sponsor Todd Rock has the quiet hand of Dave Steil all over it. Dave is a very intelligent person (believe me, that's rare in Harrisburg) and his detailed work in drafting the new legislation has been invaluable.
The decision that Dave should not be chief sponsor was tactical. A number of his fellow Republicans had acted like 3-year-olds following Dave's vote to oust Speaker John Perzel. Many of them vowed not to support any legislation from the six renegade Republicans they felt handed control of the state House to the Democrats. Yet the six renegade Republicans who ousted their leader were cleansing their own party and it was a principled act of political courage. That's Dave Steil.
Failed Pennsbury school board candidate Ethan Shiller recently wrote a letter questioning why we supposedly had to get a different sponsor for the teacher-strike bill and not Dave Steil. Shiller has no idea what he's talking about. Dave Steil was heavily involved and was an immediate co-sponsor.
Dave believes as I believe that our children deserve a strike-free education and that right must be enshrined in law. He's never wavered from that view. He has also been a lifelong supporter of right-to-work legislation to give the freedom of choice to every teacher and every worker as to whether or not they wish to join or pay dues to a union.
Dave knows that forced unionism is wrong, just as he knows that teacher strikes are wrong. Dave does not take any PAC (political action committee) money to run his campaigns. He doesn't take a nickel from any special interest group. That's principle and it is rare.
We have had our disagreements but I for one will miss Dave Steil's integrity, intellect, and commitment to public service. Lord knows he deserves a medal for putting up with me these past two years. I wish him all the best in his post-political career.
