Pennsylvania's state lawmakers have presented voters with the gift of another wake-up call — and, according to one leading reformer, a chance to reclaim government from arrogant, self-serving and entrenched politicians.

The controversial 2 a.m. pay-raise vote of 2005 angered voters and woke up millions of Pennsylvanians to some unethical and illegal activities in Harrisburg.

Voters pretty much slept through an earlier wake-up call, namely the 2001 pension grab in which lawmakers voted themselves a 50 percent pension increase.

Now, we have Bonusgate to wake up the electorate and build pressure for enactment of a long list of reforms to make the General Assembly more accountable to the people. A fair number of the reform proposals have been held captive in House committees.

The Bonusgate scandal has produced a mountain of evidence showing how leading Democrats in the state House of Representatives used taxpayer-funded employees to do political, campaign work. The investigation paints a picture of House staffers used for fundraising, doing opposition research, preparing and distributing campaign mailings, and canvassing door-to-door for Demo-cratic candidates. All this work was done by state employees, paid by taxpayers. These staffers, apparently at the direction of a few party leaders, were not doing work for constituents (Democrats, Republicans and Independents), they were working for House Democrats and other Democratic candidates. But that work is supposed to be done by people paid with campaign funds, not tax dollars.

The Bonusgate affair can be seen simply as theft. And it happened because some lawmakers are so arrogant and self-serving that they treat taxpayer dollars as their own money to do with as they please.

The investigation revealed that those who worked the hardest or put in longest hours were rewarded with the biggest year-end bonuses.

The pay-raise vote of 2005 angered voters and caused a record number of state lawmakers to be replaced, either by defeat at the polls or because they decided against facing the voters for re-election.

The Bonusgate scandal, which is expected to produce more indictments, should fuel the same sort of voter backlash. And this scandal occurred not long after lawmakers responded to citizen anger over the pay-raise scandal by promising to change the culture in Harrisburg.

But it's now clear that not much changed in Harrisburg. It's equally clear that something dramatic needs to happen to bring about real change and reform.

One idea is a special session this summer, to deal exclusively with ethics and reform.

Last week, state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, called on Gov. Ed Rendell to call a special session on "governmental and ethics reform." Though he initially expressed no interest in earlier calls for a special session, Rendell now says he is open to the idea.

As insurance against resistance from Rendell, Piccola has begun collecting signatures on a petition calling for the session from members of the House and Senate.If half the House and Senate sign, then the governor will be forced to comply.

It is remarkable that as the Bonusgate indictments were making news, most state lawmakers quietly slipped away from Harrisburg for their long summer vacation. The silence has been deafening when it comes to comments on the scandal from lawmakers or the governor.

Most Pennsylvanians would expect that such a scandal, already of historic proportions — and growing — would motivate the legislature and governor to action. But, so far, there has been only talk, and not much of that either.

Another approach that could well be the ultimate result of a special session on ethics is a constitutional convention.

Fundamental changes dealing with Pennsylvania's scandal-plagued legislature could be dealt with in a constitutional convention. Issues might include redistricting, campaign contribution limits, term limits, benefits reduction or moving to a part-time legislature.

One simple example of the need for change can be illustrated by a voter drive in Michigan to put an initiative on the ballot making that state's legislature a part-time body. The motivation for the voter initiative was the failure of state lawmakers to pass a budget on time in 2007.

By contrast, Pennsylvania lawmakers have not passed a budget on time for six consecutive years. And, to get a voter initiative on the ballot in this state requires the approval of state lawmakers — the very same people who have proven themselves to be self-serving and are thus unlikely to cut their own job status to part time from full time, risking the associated reductions in salary, pension benefits and perks.

This is just one example of how, at just about every turn, Pennsylvanians are blocked from taking back control of their state government from entrenched lawmakers.

Significant change is critical to restore confidence in state government, and a special summer session on ethics and government is a start. That, then, should be followed by plans for a constitutional convention.

State lawmakers have proven themselves incapable of reform. Now it's time for the citizens of Pennsylvania to step forward to do the job.