HARRISBURG – PA Senate State Government Committee Chairman Senator Cris Dush (R-25) and six state Senators have sent the following letter (excerpted below) informing Department of General Services (DGS) Secretary Reggie McNeil that his department has seemingly failed to submit the statutorily required state property disposition plan before this year’s deadline and has failed to do since at least 2013.
Citing that the absence of these property disposition plans has resulted in severe mismanagement of state properties (listed below) across the Commonwealth. Dush and Senate Republican State Government Committee members are urging DGS to fulfill its statutory duty by immediately submitting a surplus property disposition plan for legislative review.
“Secretary McNeil:
“We are writing to inquire about the Property Disposition Plan, which the Department of General Services is required to develop pursuant to Section 2403-A of Act 175 of 1929, known as the Administrative Code of 1929.
“As of the date of this letter, the Senate State Government Committee has still not received this plan from your department. Additionally, it is our suspicion that your department has not submitted this plan for several years. The requirement for this plan to be posted to the Pennsylvania Bulletin has not been satisfied since 2013.
“In the absence of this statutorily required plan, the Department of General Services has severely mismanaged the disposition of properties such as the White Haven Center, Polk Center, Hamburg Center, and Wernersville State Hospital. The Department has even suggested that legislation is necessary to dispose of these properties. It has always been the responsibility of the Department of General Services to dispose of these properties and to report to the general assembly on their plans to dispose of these properties.
“We believe this plan to be an absolute necessity for transparency and efficiency, and we urge your department to fulfill your statutory duty and submit a surplus property disposition plan to this committee as soon as possible.
“Signed, Members of the PA State Government Committee.”
A copy of the full letter and a list of signatories can be viewed here.
CONTACT: Ty McCauslin, Communications Director, at 717-787-7084 or tmccauslin@pasen.gov.