Last year about this time, expectations were high for the 55 new members of the Pennsylvania House and Senate, many of whom were elected under the banner of reform in the aftermath of the 2005 legislative pay raise.

But last week Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp, a leading pay raise opponent, gave the majority of the class an F.

With some notable exceptions, there’s been a stampede among them to sign up for perks and pensions, Stilp says. Among the House Democrats, there’s been reluctance among freshmen to speak out against House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, in the face of a grand jury investigation of whether bonuses were paid to legislative staffers for political work, Stilp contends.

Stilp would himself get a failing grade in the eyes of many lawmakers who view him as a gadfly, running up the taxpayers’ legal tab by filing an unending stream of fruitless lawsuits.

That said, Stilp’s freshman class concerns are not unfounded. Too few have been willing to stand up against their leaders and set examples with frugal spending.

Commonwealth Foundation President Matthew Brouillette is a little kinder. He gives the freshman class is “C-minus — on a curve.”

Read the full Pittsburgh Tribune Review article here.