In the 2006 elections, Pennsylvania voters rejected state Rep. Frank LaGrotta, D-Lawrence; Rep. Mike Veon,D-Beaver Falls; and Sen. Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona. Others, including state Sen. Joe Conti, R-Bucks, decided not to run for re-election because of their involvement in the controversial 2005 pay-raise vote.

But despite having lost or given up their legislative jobs, each of these former lawmakers is back in Harrisburg — as a lobbyist or working in another taxpayer-funded job.

The revolving door that allows lawmakers to resurface as lobbyists, paid to influence their friends and former colleagues, or in a different taxpayer-funded position, is alive and well in Harrisburg.

Taking a positive, though too- modest step in curbing the practice, state Sen. Jane Orie, R-Allegheny, is proposing to replace the current one-year limit on former lawmakers returning as lobbyists with a two-year cooling-off period between the time a lawmaker leaves office and when he or she returns to the Capitol as a lobbyist.

The two-year cooling-off period in Orie's proposal also would apply to former lawmakers taking any other job in state government. Such a ban would have prevented Conti from being appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell to become the chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

The Conti appointment was a blatant patronage move by Rendell, despite their different politcal party affiliations, and will serve to substantially boost Conti's pension payments, because the newly created LCBpost pays $150,000 a year, nearly double Conti's salary as a state lawmaker.

Veon, a major engineer and supporter of the pay-raise vote, has returned to Harrisburg as a lobbyist, as has Jubelirer. LaGrotta, another infamous pay-raise supporter, has been hired as a staffer by House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese. In his new taxpayer-funded job, LaGrotta is being paid $73,614, the same salary he made as a legislator.

Many voters would support an outright ban preventing former lawmakers from working as lobbyists. But there is little chance such a prohibition ever will be passed by current lawmakers — who someday might find themselves defeated by voters and looking for work.

So, the best that can be expected is an extension of the current one-year cooling-off period. Orie is proposing two years. Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Altoona, who has replaced Jubelirer, has said he would support a five-year ban.

The longer the better, if voters want to minimize the impact of cozy relationships established when former lawmakers return to wine and dine their one-time colleagues on behalf of well-funded special interests.

Eric Epstein, founder of Rock the Capital, a Harrisburg-based reform group, said the revolving door for former lawmakers becoming lobbyists or being appointed to boards and agencies smacks of "political incest." He's right.

Clearly, the current one-year ban on former lawmakers returning to lobby their old colleagues is not enough. They can still lobby the other legislative body immediately after leaving office, and the one-year waiting period is not enough to discourage the practice.

A five-year ban on returning to lobby either house of the legislature should be the minimum restriction. And, as Orie's proposal suggests, the same restrictions should apply to former lawmakers returning to any other job within state government.

The revolving door is one of many serious problems in Harrisburg, and it will take bold action on the part of current lawmakers to end the troubling practice.