A new plan will require journos and lobbyists working at the State Capitol to undergo background checks.

A surprise directive issued by the state Department of General Services (DGS) requiring criminal background checks for journalists and lobbyists working at the Capitol has riled the Harrisburg press corps, but the state agency responsible for overseeing security says it still intends to go ahead with its plan.

The new security edict, which will include the issuance of a card key for access to the Capitol complex to those who successfully pass a background check, is scheduled to begin next Thursday.

"We want to go on the 5th. And that's what we intend to do," says Samantha Elliott, DGS press secretary. "Are there some issues? Yes, there are. Will they be ironed out? I don't know. We hope they will."

Last Friday, members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association (PLCA) met with their counsel, hoping to stall the new policy. At the end of the meeting, with no DGS representative in attendance, they believed they had reached another resolve.

"We're in limbo right now, but I think they're back-pedaling," says John Baer, the current president of the PLCA and a Philadelphia Daily News reporter based in Harrisburg. "At minimum, we may have stopped this arbitrary start date, postponing it to a non-determinant time in October. But we haven't heard from [Elliott] since she cancelled on our [Friday] meeting. Of course, there are two sides to every story and I think it'll be resolved amicably. But it's a knot of confusion over a very prickly issue."

Baer says when the policy was introduced -- without warning -- last week, it was met with aversion.

"I think people are just sorta outraged by the whole idea," he says. "It raises real questions about people's civil rights."

The controversial proposal has even gotten the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"What we're trying to understand is if this is really legitimately tied to security or is it a pretense for limiting access to what's going on at the Capitol," says Larry Frankel, legislative director of the Pennsylvania ACLU. "We're very wary of measures that might be taken making it easier for government to operate in secret."

In defense of the new policy, which will grant cardholders access to the Capitol complex's underground parking garage and allow them to bypass the long lines usually found at the metal detectors, Elliott says that an order from Governor Mark Schweiker prompted her agency to team up with the legislature to find ways to increase security around the Capitol post 9/11. Among its duties, the DGS oversees security for the state.

The Capitol building contains the House of Representatives, the state Senate and state offices. It has five visitor's entrances used by the general public. State employees have been required to undergo criminal background checks since before Sept. 11. Most already carry security card keys.

"It's our job to protect Pennsylvanians from harm and from people who do not like our government," Elliott says. "I cannot stress enough our intent will always be to keep the Capitol complex safe. After 9/11, the world has changed."

Elliott says that the purpose of the criminal background check is to identify felons with a history of violent crimes. She says that regardless of the outcome of the check, no one will be denied access to the Capitol. However, if a violent perp is identified by the Capitol police (the only ones with access to the information from the background checks), they will be denied a card key, forcing them to use one of the visitor's entrances to gain access to the 96-year-old building.

The Capitol's press corps, which includes 40 newspaper and broadcast outlets from the region, has occupied space on the second floor, directly behind the rotunda, since the original building opened in 1822.

Capitol building reporters, some who have worked there for decades, have never been subjected to special requirements other than obtaining credentials through their own news agencies. The possibility that they could fall under new security regulations imposed by Schweiker's administration was met with irritation.

"Let's see if we can find a way to help protect the public without violating the civil liberties of journalists," says Inky Harrisburg staff writer, Tom Fitzgerald, a Capitol press corps member. "This seems over the top and an invasion of our privacy. It was never floated in a public forum for discussion. There's nothing in writing."

Elliott says that she intends to issue a press release detailing the plan and has already discussed it with television and radio news stations in the area. She says that everyone is fine with it -- except the Capitol press corps.

"We were trying to do the press corps a favor by providing them with an access card key, so that they can have complete access to the Capitol complex," Elliott says. "It is not an invasion of their civil rights. We meant to cause no malcontent. But why should we have to discuss it with them ahead of time? I don't ask them about their news stories."

"[The criminal background check] is certainly something we don't relish doing," says David La Torre, Schweiker's press secretary. "But we have to make sure that when people come through that door, they'll be safe. We can't focus on whose feelings are getting hurt here."

One of the proposal's sticking points is that none of the lawmakers, or their aides, will be subject to the new rules. Prior to the DGS initiative, journalists had always been under the jurisdiction of the Senate -- not the administration.

In addition, reporters will have to shell out $10 from their own pockets to state police to have the check run.

"The Department of General Services doesn't have the authority to require this kind of [background check] for the legislators, the reporters or the lobbyists," says Stephen MacNett, general counsel for the Senate Republicans. "And there is absolutely no statutory requirement that would bring either chamber -- the Senate or the House of Representatives -- under these regulations."

MacNett, who met with Capitol senior staff on Thursday to review the proposal, says he believes that it has been put on hold.

"It's not clear that it'll actually happen at this point," he says. "We're hoping [DGS] takes a second look at what they've got planned. This'll take a couple of weeks to sort out, but I think whatever they come up with will be a little bit more rational than the proposal they submitted last week."