HARRISBURG -- State House Speaker John Perzel is naming a committee to draft a new lobbyist regulation law, but some critics say he's actually doing more harm than good.

Mr. Perzel has long resisted action on a law governing special interests who confer with, provide information for and entertain lawmakers as they debate pending legislation, but the Philadelphia Republican said yesterday he'll create an eight-member panel to develop a new law.

It likely will require lobbyists to register with the state, say which groups or interests they represent, and report quarterly on how much they spend on such items as office expenses, salaries, wining and dining of legislators and other costs.

Mr. Perzel released the names of six officials, including two former state Supreme Court justices, that he already has selected for the panel, with Senate leaders to name two more members. Mr. Perzel expects the panel to hold its first meeting in early March and hopes for a vote on the new lobbyist bill, at least in the House, before the June 30 summer recess.

But some public interest groups immediately criticized the study panel as an unnecessary waste of time, saying a new bill to regulate the conduct of the hundreds of lobbyists at the Capitol already has been written and approved by the state Senate.

The measure, Senate Bill 1, also has been approved by the House State Government Committee and only awaits final action by the full House. Proponents are hoping the House will act before the current session ends Nov. 30.

"We're already two-thirds of the way through the legislative process,'' said Common Cause/Pennsylvania Director Barry Kauffman. "There is no need to start from scratch, and no need to draft an entirely new lobbying reform bill."

Other citizens' groups that joined Common Cause last year in opposing the legislative pay raise, such Democracy Rising, Rock The Capitol and Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp, also questioned the need for further study. They said Mr. Perzel, in setting up a study panel, may simply be further delaying actual reform.

Critics also noted that Mr. Perzel had never shown any interest in controlling lobbyists until last year's public uproar over the 16 to 34 percent legislative pay raises. As a result of the raises -- which were repealed in November -- many of his rank-and-file House colleagues put pressure on him to be more open with the public about lobbyist spending reports.

Pennsylvania is the only state without a law regulating special interests.

Mr. Perzel said the state's previous lobbying regulation law, approved in 1998, was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2002 because it regulated the conduct of lawyer/lobbyists as well as non-lawyer lobbyists. Opponents to that law successfully argued that only the high court can regulate the conduct of lawyers, including a couple hundred lobbyists who happen to be lawyers.

That's why Mr. Perzel said it was important to name his own panel with members who have a strong legal background. Such a panel should be able to draft a bill that fairly governs lawyer/lobbyists as well as non-lawyers, he said.

His appointees are former Supreme Court Justices Frank J. Montemuro Jr. and Nicholas P. Papadakos; Ralph Haines, an adviser to Democratic House leader H. William DeWeese; John W. Morris, a former member of the Supreme Court's disciplinary board; lawyer Spencer G. Nauman Jr.; and Barry M. Simpson, Pennsylvania Bar Association director.

The two other members will be named by Senate President Pro Tem Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, who wrote and pushed for Senate Bill 1, and by Senate Democratic leader Robert Mellow of Scranton.