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House Votes to Update Caregiver Program

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Vicki Hoak is executive director of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association.

Vicki Hoak is executive director of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association.

Pennsylvania’s Family Caregiver Support Act was written to reimburse eligible families for expenses relating to caring for an older adult at home, but reimbursement rates have never increased and restrictive guidelines have kept many families on the outside looking in.  “In fact, these restrictions have led to almost $1-million dollars going unspent last year,” says executive director of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association Vicki Hoak.  That’s despite a waiting list for the program. 

The state House voted unanimously (199 – 0) for a bill that would ease those restrictions to allow non-relatives into the program, and increase the maximum monthly reimbursement rate from $200 to $500 dollars.  “I developed a keen interest in the program, and became concerned with the fact that despite the obvious increase in our cost of living, since the program began in 1990, the reimbursements to caregivers were never adjusted upward,” says the bill’s prime sponsor Matt Baker (R-Tioga/Bradford), who has personal experience as a family caregiver.   

Advocates say seniors want to age in their own homes, and State Rep. Phyllis Mundy (D-Luzerne) points out that it’s far less costly to care for a person at home than in an institutional setting.  “The economic value of Pennsylvania’s caregivers has been estimated in the billions,” Mundy said on the House floor.  “Without the support of these unsung heroes, our commonwealth would face even greater fiscal challenges.” 

This is the fourth time the House has passed such a bill, and Rep. Baker hopes this is the year it makes it past the goal line.  He says the Corbett administration has indicated its support.  Up next for HB 210 is the State Senate, where Kim Ward (R-Westmoreland) has introduced a companion bill.  The Family Caregiver Support Program is funded through the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Abortion Clinic Bills Stir Controversy

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The Pro-Life and Pro-Choice crowds are on opposite sides of new abortion clinic regulations that could soon make their way to Governor Tom Corbett’s desk.  The State House and Senate Pro-Life Caucuses are calling for action on SB 732, which would regulate abortion centers like the state’s ambulatory surgical centers.  “I would think any woman who has a medical procedure performed in one of these clinics would want to be assured that the facility meets state minimum standards,” says State Rep. Jerry Stern (R-Blair), chairman of the House Pro-Life Caucus.

Similar legislation has already passed both Republican-controlled chambers in Harrisburg, and a spokesman for the House Majority Leader says they could take up SB 732 as early as next week.  Officials spent the summer working on amended language they believe can pass both chambers. 

But the prospective passage of this legislation drew hundreds of opponents to the state capitol on Tuesday.  “We are health care consumers, we vote and we have had enough,” exclaimed Brenda Green, executive director of CHOICE, a Philadelphia non-profit. 

One of the lawmakers joining in the rally was State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), who believes the legislation’s intent is to shut down PA’s abortion clinics through burdensome and costly regulations.  “They’re giving up on the Supreme Court, in overturning Roe v. Wade.  They’re going to overturn Roe v. Wade through these types of laws,” Frankel says. 

“Contrary to what the naysayers and opponents are saying, this is not about stopping abortion, this is about patient safety.  Common sense patient safety,” says State Rep. Matt Baker, who sponsored the House version of the abortion clinic legislation. 

The bills were written in response to the alleged ‘house of horrors’ uncovered at one Philadelphia clinic operated by disgraced Dr. Kermit Gosnell.  The clinic had gone uninspected for years, but a Grand Jury ultimately charged Gosnell with eight counts of murder. 

Rep. Frankel believes mandatory inspections can prevent the atrocities of the Gosnell clinic without restricting women’s access to abortions.

Lawmakers Consider Library Code Update

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Pennsylvania’s libraries are busier than ever.  “Between 2007 and 2009, library visits increased by 2.5-million,” Deputy Education Secretary for Commonwealth Libraries Clare Zales explained to a Senate panel.  “Nearly 850,000 patrons accessed the Internet, which is an increase of 22%.”

These numbers are the backdrop as state lawmakers consider an overhaul of the state’s 50-year-old library code.  “At the time the library code was a model for other states, however it is now considered antiquated,” says State Senator Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware), the prime sponsor of SB 1225.  Pileggi’s bill is based on a 2010 report from the Joint State Government Commission, which made recommendations for library modernization in Pennsylvania. 

It would set new standards that reflect new technology, create new ways for the state to address libraries that don’t meet minimum levels of local funding and update requirements for staff, collections and buildings.  “One example of this clear need for an update is that current law requires each district library center to have a minimum of 300 16-milimeter films in its collection,” Pileggi explained to the Senate Education Committee.   

Many librarians and advocates are using this opportunity to raise their grave funding concerns.  Dennis Leeper with Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries says most libraries are trying to compete for municipal funding alongside police and fire departments.  “So the libraries often get what’s left over, and in difficult economic times like these there isn’t much left over.  So the libraries are hurting.”

Bill Could Help Hook More PA Anglers

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An unprecedented decline in fishing license sales is being tracked nationwide.   Pennsylvania is no exception, as the Fish & Boat Commission reports 1.4-million PA anglers in 1996, compared to just under one million in 2006.  With those numbers in mind, the commission is working to get more Pennsylvanians engaged, and they believe SB 1049 would be a big boost. 

John Arway

Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission executive director John Arway

The legislation would provide the Fish & Boat Commission with more flexibility to make licenses more convenient and less expensive.  “We could look at ideas like a multi-year license, which is one of the prime alternatives that we would look at if this bill passes,” says Fish & Boat Commission executive director John Arway.  “Our potential approach to this would be that there may be some cost savings to the anglers to, if they do it for five years or three years, instead of just one year.” 

Florida, Georgia and Kansas currently offer multi-year licenses, and all indications at this week’s public hearing were that the program has been a success in those states.  Other possibilities, if SB 1049 were to become law, are group licensing and promotional discounts. 

“It’s just part of a process that we’re trying to create to encourage more people to get fishing in Pennsylvania.  We have many other things to do, but this is the first step,” Arway said in an interview with Radio PA.  SB 1049 is expected to come up for consideration in the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee later this fall.  

Photo credits: PA Fish & Boat Commission / fishandboat.com

State Capitol Facing North Office Building

Redistricting Panel Seeks to Beat the Clock

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A five member state panel has 90-days to craft a preliminary redistricting plan for Pennsylvania’s 253-House and Senate districts.  If Wednesday’s meeting is any indication, they’re up for the challenge.  In mere minutes, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission allocated its $4.8-million dollar budget, OK’d a new website that allows the public to track its progress, set two public hearings for September and deemed the new US Census data “usable.”   

State Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny)

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai talks to the media following Wednesday's Legislative Reapportionment Commission meeting.

“I have every confidence that we will work through the process and get it done in a timely manner,” says Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny).  House Majority Leader Mike Turzai thinks they can even beat the 90-day deadline.  “You have to give the electorate an opportunity – before the petition process – to know exactly where the lines are,” Turzai said after Wednesday’s meeting.

The Legislative Reapportionment Commission is comprised of all four legislative floor leaders in Harrisburg and their court-appointed chairman.  They are tasked with using the new population data to redraw Pennsylvania’s legislative map in time for the 2012 elections. 

The two Democratic members voiced concerns over precinct-level data to be used in 129 of the 9,254 voting precincts in the state.  “Right now, we’re trying to maintain the integrity of the voting precincts that have existed for 40, 50-years,” says House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny).  Turzai, however, doesn’t concede that there are problems and the panel agreed to make any necessary refinements as they go. 

Good government advocates will be watching to see that every district has an equal size population, that no existing geo-political area is unnecessarily divided and that districts are compact and contiguous.  Turzai says it’s too soon to talk specifics: “Some districts have to get larger, some districts have to get smaller and as a result there may be some shifts within the state.  Those are decisions that the commission’s going to have to address.” 

Once the preliminary map is ready, there will be a 30-day window for public comment.  Then, the commission will have another 30-days to adopt a final redistricting plan.

Hearing to Kick-Start Legislative Downsizing Debate

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State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler)

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe chairs the House State Government Committee.

There are seven bills before the House State Government Committee, each with a different approach to reducing the size of the General Assembly.  “There’ve been many stories written about this issue; there’ve been citizens across the state – at various times – talking about this issue,” says committee chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler), who will convene a public hearing, Tuesday afternoon, in the House Majority Caucus Room.

Efforts to reduce the 253-member General Assembly have not gotten far in years past, but this year one of the bills is sponsored by Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Jefferson).  Smith’s bill (HB 153) would amend the state constitution to reduce House membership from 203 to 153, following the 2020 Census.  The Smith bill would only affect House districts, but others would trim the size of both chambers.  For instance, HB 183 would result in 121 House seats and 30 Senate seats. 

Pennsylvania’s cast of 253 lawmakers is the second only to New Hampshire’s 424.  However, when population is factored in, Pennsylvania has the 7th most constituents per Senator and the 18th most constituents per State Rep. 

Beverley Cigler, professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, says there’s no research showing that a smaller legislature is more efficient.  She points to California.  “It is an extremely large state.  It has a House of 80-members and a Senate of 40, so it is a very small legislature, and I think by anybody’s measure they’re a mess.”  Cigler is scheduled to testify before Metcalfe’s committee on Tuesday, and will suggest that other reforms are more promising for improving the legislature than downsizing. 

For chairman Metcalfe, finances are top of mind.  “I think it’s a prime opportunity to take a look at the plusses and minuses of reducing the size of the legislature, especially as it relates to the cost of our legislature, and ultimately the cost of our state government,” Metcalfe says.  Most state spending falls under the executive branch and Metcalfe says that’s where the fat needs to be cut.  “But the legislature needs to lead by example, and I think that’s what these proposals are trying to do.” 

 

State Capitol Facing North Office Building

PA’s Industry Partnerships Program Now Permanent

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The Industry Partnerships program attempts to match skilled workforce training to the industries and jobs that exist in the Keystone State.  Supporters say it will help to fill the gap that exists between the skills employers need and the skills that are available in the workforce.  “There’s nothing worse in the world than to train somebody for a job that doesn’t exist,” says Tony Ross, president of United Way of Pennsylvania.  Ross says that Governor Tom Corbett’s signature on SB 552 codifies the program, thus improving its long-term viability.

Mike Brubaker

State Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster)

The program dates back to 2005, and the Department of Labor & Industry reports that some 118,000 people have received training since that time.  “More than 6,300 businesses have taken part in more than 80-partnerships throughout the state,” adds State Senator Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster).  Brubaker was the prime sponsor of SB 552.  Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships program is also becoming a model for the rest of the nation. 

The new state budget includes about $1.6-million dollars for the program’s administration.  Tony Ross tells us another of the benefits is that it covers such a broad swath of industry.  “Everything from health care, to manufacturing, to Information Technology – you name it – any industry can access this opportunity.”

Both the State House and Senate voted unanimously to make the Industry Partnerships program permanent.  Governor Tom Corbett signed it – along with 45 other new laws – on Thursday.

Operating Budget Awaits Governor Tom Corbett’s Signature

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A $27.15- billion dollar state spending plan has now passed both chambers of the legislature, with zero Democratic support.  Wednesday night’s House vote was 109 – 92.  Two Republicans joined all House Democrats in opposition to the bill. 

House Republican Appropriations chair Bill Adolph (R-Delaware) says it represents about a 4% reduction in general spending.  “This is only the third time in nearly 40-years that Pennsylvania will be spending less than the prior year budget,” Adolph said during House floor debates.  He contends the budget is built upon realistic and sustainable revenues.  “This budget will not create a deficit by spending beyond our means.” 

The Republican-backed spending plan would tap into some of the higher-than-anticipated state revenues, which have accumulated this year, but Adolph says they do not rely on that money to sustain the budget.  Most state officials expect the final surplus number to be in the range of $700-million dollars.  While many Democrats say more of that money should be spent to mitigate painful spending cuts, Republicans are quick to point to a long list of liabilities, including: growing pension obligations, state debt payments, a potential Mcare settlement, an unresolved transportation funding gap and more.

As Republicans tout the fiscal responsibility of the spending plan, Democrats – like Appropriations chair Joe Markosek (D-Allegheny) – say they relied on gimmicks to keep the spend number artificially low.  “This is a budget that is full of hide and seek and sleight of hand,” Markosek said.  “This is not open government.”   

Democrats complained even more loudly about more than a billion dollars in cuts to basic and higher education.  The 14-universities in the State System of Higher Education will see an 18% funding cut, and we may soon learn whether it will significantly affect tuition rates.  The ‘basic education funding’ line item, in the budget, stands at $5.35-billion dollars.  That’s down from $5.77-billion dollars last year.  But that number included federal stimulus money, and Republicans say this year’s state investment in basic education is the largest ever.

In all, Pennsylvania is losing about $2.7-billion dollars in stimulus money, which was used to balance last year’s budget.  Senate Republican leaders say the loss of federal stimulus dollars means that difficult but necessary budget cuts needed to be made.   

The legislative work isn’t over yet, as there are still auxiliary budget bills that need to be enacted.  But, if Governor Tom Corbett signs the budget today, it will break a streak of eight consecutive late budgets in Pennsylvania.

State Capitol

Senate Passes Budget Bill as Deadline Looms

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Sen. Dominic Pileggi

Sen. Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware)

The new fiscal year begins on Friday, but Pennsylvania may still have its first on-time budget in eight years.  The State Senate voted along party lines (30 to 20) to pass a GOP-backed $27.15-billion dollar spending plan Tuesday evening.   “This year marks a return to a state budget paid for with state revenues,” says Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware), referring to the $7-billion dollars in federal stimulus money Pennsylvania received over the past three years.  “It is difficult but necessary to reset state spending to reflect that new reality.” 

While the bottom-line is more than a billion dollars below the current General Fund budget, Senator Pileggi points out that the bill increases basic education funding by $268-million and higher education funding by $368-million, compared to the Governor’s March 8th budget proposal.

Senate Democrats still say the budget pain doesn’t have to be so severe. “We’re sitting on an extra, what will probably be by June 30th, an extra $700-million dollars in budget surplus,” says Democratic Appropriations Chair Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia). 

But that’s a “so-called” surplus, according to Governor Tom Corbett.  “Yes more revenue has come in, but we still have a deficit… We have spending that has to be done in the future, we don’t think that next year is going to be much rosier – if at all – than this year,” Corbett told reporters on Tuesday. 

While Corbett says spending matches revenues in the current budget bill, he knows that it’s not a done deal yet.  “Until there is a budget, until I have an opportunity to sign one, there is no budget,” he says.  The budget bill now awaits House action.

One Week Remains Before State Budget Deadline

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State budget negotiations continue in Harrisburg as the Corbett Administration attempts to iron out differences with fellow Republicans in the legislative leadership. Their goal is to have a spending plan signed and in place one week from tonight, making this the first budget deadline met in 8 years.

Governor Tom Corbett said last night that he remains confident that a deal can be reached in time to meet that deadline, but there are indications that his confidence is not shared by the Senate leadership. Drew Crompton, Chief of Staff to Senate President Joe Scarnati, says the governor’s refusal to discuss a proposed Marcellus Shale “impact fee” has the potential to push the process beyond June 30th. The governor has previously stated that the impact fees are to be kept separate from the general fund budget and he refused to comment on whether or not they were a part of Wednesday’s talks. Corbett does list tort reform and school vouchers as two major issues that need to be discussed before party leaders can agree on a budget.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi previously stated that a handshake agreement of sorts would need to be in place by today if the budget had a chance to pass by June 30th. As talks ended last night, indications were that such a “gentleman’s agreement” is still elusive.

Meanwhile, state Democrats are critical of the budget negotiation, calling it a “behind closed doors” process. Republicans control the House, Senate and Governor’s office in Harrisburg.