HARRISBURG -- With a new two-year General Assembly session set to start next week, some legislators are saying the public needs to have easier access to government procedures and agencies.

Five Democratic senators from Allegheny County yesterday called for several changes in how the Republican-controlled Senate does its business when the 2007-08 session opens Tuesday.

One key change they want would require that any amendment to a bill be printed and posted, and all legislators be told about it, at least 24 hours before the amendment is voted on.

That would prevent what happened in late November, when an amendment allowing casinos to give free drinks to slot machine players 19 hours a day was rammed through the Senate and then the House late at night without prior notice or debate.

The Democratic senators also want "detailed legislative journals, or written accounts of floor action," to be posted on the Internet within 20 days. They also want each senator's votes on bills to be posted online within 24 hours.

In a separate measure, a newly elected Democratic member of the House, Rep. Tim Mahoney of Uniontown, said he will introduce a bill next month calling for creation of a new state agency to make it easier for residents to get access to township, borough, county and state records.

It would be called the Office of Access to Public Records. If a resident from any municipality in Pennsylvania were to have trouble getting information from a local or state agency, he or she could ask the new office for help.

There would be a cost to establish the office, and Mr. Mahoney didn't know what it might be or how many employees would be needed. He said he is now seeking co-sponsors for the bill.

Mr. Mahoney, a self-employed building contractor, former restaurant owner and Fayette County jury commissioner, is replacing Rep. Larry Roberts, who retired. He said there could be resistance from some legislators over increasing the cost of state government, but he argued that it's important to help residents negotiate their way through the often confusing bureaucracies on the state and local levels.

The call for reform of Senate procedures came from Sens. Jay Costa of Forest Hills, Jim Ferlo of Highland Park, Wayne Fontana of Brookline, Sean Logan of Monroeville and Gerald LaValle of Beaver County, whose district includes part of Allegheny.

"I want to ensure that any bills that come before the Senate will be made available to the public, and open for debate, before votes are taken," Mr. Logan said. "It has become increasingly clear that the process we use to make Pennsylvania's laws is broken and I am determined to fix it."

Mr. Fontana said that in the 18 months he's been in the Senate, he's become "disgusted by all the procedural games that contort the legislative process. Too often, bills have been gutted and altered in a matter of hours and then sprung on lawmakers for a vote with little time for review."

Other proposed changes would require that a bill get a public hearing if as little as 10 percent of the Senate wants one, and that any bill that calls for spending state or local funds be considered in final form by the Appropriations Committee before being sent on to the full Senate.

Republicans will control the state Senate in 2007-08 by a 29-21 margin. The top Republican, President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, said the Democrats have some ideas worth considering and he's been working with their leaders on new procedures to institute as quickly as possible.

"I applaud the five Democratic senators from Allegheny County for their ideas, but reform is not Democratic or Republican," he said. "We need to work together."

He said some waiting period is needed before an amendment bill is acted on, but thought that a six-hour period was preferable to 24 hours. He also wants to limit Senate debate and votes to the hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., to avoid important votes at late-night hours when most people are sleeping.