Pennsylvania’s favorite subterranean varmint emerged from his luxury condo on Tuesday to inform us that he indeed saw his shadow (note: it was pre-dawn and there were 50 klieg lights surrounding him, which makes it kinda impossible NOT to see one’s shadow), giving us six more weeks of winter. Which, by our estimation, means that our Pennsylvania winter will have been officially seven weeks long when all is said and done.
Donald Trump this week endorsed GOP Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney. Trump’s hair, however, endorsed Newt Gingrich, as it was apparently not happy about having to share the stage with Romney’s picture-perfect coif.
Before we get into the blood and guts of this week’s update, we’d like to give a special shout out to Rep. Camille “Bud” George, who will be officially hanging up the gloves at the end of 2012 after 38 years of service to his Clearfield County district, and in fact, the entire Commonwealth. Pennsylvania may never again have such an outspoken and fiery personality in the General Assembly. For those of you who were not privileged to know him, we can say only this: if you were on the opposite side of an issue from Chairman George, you knew it. And you did not enjoy it.
Pennsylvania is looking for $33 million in federal funding to support the formation of health exchanges mandated by federal Affordable Care Act, an obscure new law that is sometimes known by the archaic term “Obamacare.” This puts the Commonwealth in the rather awkward position of seeking funding for a law that it has sued to overturn as being unconstitutional.
Not long ago, we touched on the ongoing battle over whether or not we should dredge the Delaware River by a whopping five feet so that actual ships could navigate it, and not just dudes in kayaks and the occasional pontoon boat. In the face of renewed opposition, dredging supporters got a boost from U.S. Senate Bob Casey this week, who took the opportunity to bend President Barack Obama’s ear about it on a recent car trip. Maybe Casey can bring it up again while the President beats him mercilessly on the basketball court (hey, it’s just what we heard, that’s all.)
In case you weren’t aware, Governor Corbett will unveil his second state budget next Tuesday. Lawmakers and all manner of politico are bracing for yet another – ahem – austere spending plan from our Chief Executive. For those who had hoped the economy, and therefore state revenues, had turned the corner: not quite yet, brothers and sisters. Regardless, we’ll be there to cover every bit of the speech and the reaction, and will be providing web content and video (and maybe even some doughnuts; who can say?) throughout the process.
After years of being hamstrung by outrageous levels of debt, the City of Pittsburgh is finally poised to be able to float some $80 million in bonds for new capital spending. This seems to be good news, especially for anyone who has lost their car in a pothole on Carson Street lately.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Sam Smith (neighbor of the aforementioned subterranean varmint) has gone to federal court to have those fine robed folks declare that the old 2001 legislative district lines are unconstitutional, and therefore cannot be used for the six special elections that the Speaker must call forthwith. This is just the next in a long series of maneuvers to fix the damage done when the new maps were cashiered by our own Supreme Court. Grab the popcorn, this saga might outlast Lord of the Rings.
The State Senate Appropriations Chairman this week raised a few eyebrows when he cancelled that panel’s annual public hearings for both the courts and colleges. While the cancellation of the appearance by the courts was, according to his office, intended to give the Supreme Court time to help fix the legislative boundaries, the cold shoulder the state’s top colleges are getting sends a pretty clear warning about what they can expect in next year’s state budget: a tall, cold glass of nothing.
Lawmakers and the governor are hopeful that a final version of the Marcellus Shale impact fee and regulatory bill will be done within the next week or so. To be fair, they’ve been hoping for some kind of action on that topic since the days when Governor Rendell strode the hallways. But really, they are close this time. Very, very close. On a TOTALLY unrelated subject, did you know that the gestation period for a female Black Alpine Salamander can top three years? Yeah. Uh-huh. Moving along….
Perhaps complicating the shale negotiations (now that we’ve removed the tongue from the cheek), a group of southeastern Pennsylvania lawmaker is advocating using Marcellus Shale tax proceeds (alright, fee proceeds, we heard you the first time) to fix roads and bridges. Their point, which is rather sound, is that the southeastern part of the state generates a whole lot of revenue to repair all of Pennsylvania’s roadways. They are what we call “donor” counties, and it sounds like some of them might be a bit tired of being so charitable.
On that topic, a group of western Pennsylvania lawmakers is also calling on the governor to announce a full transportation infrastructure funding plan, since it has now been six months since his commission gave its recommendations. On a side note, the attached story by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette references the Greenfield Bridge, a true Pittsburgh icon in that, since it was never repaired or replaced, the state hung a huge net under it to catch all the falling concrete, lest they fall on passing cars. This is the engineering equivalent of applying duct tape to the problem.
Wrapping up transportation, we also learned this week that Congress is considering allowing bigger, heavier and longer trucks on our highways. Ha! What a fabulous idea! Read the preceding paragraph about falling concrete and then multiply that by about 6,000 deficient bridges in this state. Now add heavier trucks. Now whack yourself on the head with a rubber mallet.
Chester-Upland is apparently not the only school about to cash out we learned this week, as a group of lawmakers unveiled a plan to infuse emergency cash to 18 other districts that are in peril. The money would come from reforms to sentencing of non-violent offenders, and the rationale being it is a lot cheaper to educate a child than it is to incarcerate a non-violent offender. True enough. Also true that sentencing reform would have to be done first, so we hope those schools can hold out for a few, um, years.
The largest charter school in aforementioned Chester-Upland is suing the state for a crooked number with a lot of zeroes behind it ($7 million), as it has not been paid by the school district, since the school district has no cash and had to go to federal court to get it. Wow. There sure are a lot of layers to this onion.
If you are getting ready to do your taxes this year, remember, you’ll be seeing a brand-new line (the dreaded line 25) that will ask you to self-report use tax on anything you purchased over the Internet and did not pay sales tax on. Hey, we are trusting you on this one! Now, class, we are going to leave the room for the next two hours while you take this really tough exam. Don’t expect us back.
The Corbett Administration this week eased up a bit on the asset test requirement for food stamps that was proposed by his Department of Public Welfare last week. The new asset limit will be quite a bit higher with a few more exemptions. Do not for a minute believe you’ve heard the last of this topic, silly. The budget hearings are just around the corner.
A coalition of top labor leaders this week unveiled a few ideas they had that could inject up to $2.4 billion in the state coffers, they say, before we have to get the old budget axe out and start lopping off limbs. By the looks of it, by the way, that $2.4 billion would be roughly five times the current state budget shortfall (standing firm at $500 million.) Among the plans components are tax changes that include the Delaware Loophole closure, which is gaining a little traction over in the House as we reported last week. Serendipity!
If you hadn’t seen it already, check out our new feature on the Triadvocate, the Client Spotlight. First up this week was Philadelphia-based Impact Services, an amazing organization that has been toiling away for decades, making life better for thousands of Philadelphians on the margins of life.
That’s all from sunny Harrisburg for this pre-budget memo. We’ll be busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger next week as Governor Corbett lays out his fiscal vision for the next year, and if you follow us on Facebook and Twitter, you won’t miss a thing. If you don’t, well, don’t blame us if you miss something.
From all your friends at Triad, have a great weekend, and as always…love, peace and soul.
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