HARRISBURG -- Faced with a steady drumbeat of scandal-related news out of the state Capitol, House Republican leader Sam Smith today issued a 15-point proposal to restore the public's faith in state government.

"The vast majority of General Assembly members have the right intentions in mind,'' he told reporters today.

But he said something must be done in the wake of former Sen. Vincent Fumo's conviction on 137 corruption charges; dozens of theft charges being filed against former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon; and the firing of former Turnpike Commission Chairman Mitchell Rubin, who was accused of getting $150,000 from Mr. Fumo for a no-work job.

"Public trust has been diminished,'' he said. "We need to tighten things down and weed out areas where people have taken advantage of existing law.''

He said legislation will soon be introduced to:

• Ban public officials from starting non-profit organizations while in office. Mr. Fumo was convicted of misusing state funds for a South Philadelphia nonprofit and Mr. Veon is accused of misusing state funds given to the Beaver Initiative for Growth.

• Ban officials' staff members from doing campaign work during their regularly scheduled, Monday to Friday hours.

• Enforce tighter audits by state agencies of how state grants have been used.