Why Are You Here? A Primer for State Legislators and Citizens is a challenge to America’s 7,382 state legislators and their constituents to critically examine their state legislature and take appropriate action to improve it. This is a handbook telling how legislatures came to be, how they function, and discussing how they have fallen in public esteem. The book provides an analytical discussion for evaluating how any legislature deals with four issues: personal greed, criminal and ethical scandal, the influence of money and lobbying, and self-serving legislative seat apportionment. The last section is a “Legislative Toolbox” that provides information helpful in evaluating legislatures and readings of a patriotic nature that enhance idealism and spirit.

Franklin Kury served six years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and eight years in the Pennsylvania State Senate. He was a leader in environmental and government reform legislation. His first book, Clean Politics, Clean Streams, was cited by name and used by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the landmark environmental law decision in the Robinson Township case in 2013.