"When his history of sizable political donations to New York Democrats -- including Chuck Schumer and Charles Rangel -- was publicized last week, Donald Trump urged his fellow Republicans not to view it as an act of betrayal.
"I've lived in New York. This building, this great tower, and many other great towers are here in New York. Everyone's Democratic. So what am I going to do -- contribute to Republicans? One thing: I'm not stupid. Am I going to contribute to Republicans for my whole life when they get heat when they run against some Democrat and the most they can get is 1% of the vote?"
Presumably, he'll use some variation of this line to explain Monday morning's news that he also gave $50,000 to Rahm Emanuel for his recent Chicago mayoral bid. Of course, as others have noted, none of this explains the significant donations Trump has made to numerous Democratic Senate candidates from outside New York -- candidates, in many instances, who faced close races against their Republican opponents.
Nor does it explain another chapter in Trump's history of Democratic donations, one Salon discovered in a quick review of Pennsylvania campaign finance records: The $32,000 he gave to Ed Rendell.
When Rendell entered Pennsylvania's 2002 gubernatorial race, Trump committed himself to the former Democratic National Committee chairman's cause. Between December 2001 and Election Day '02, Trump personally gave $27,000 to Ed Rendell's gubernatorial campaign. He also chipped in $5,000 more at the end of 2003, when Rendell was finishing up his first year in office."
Looks Like Healthcare Reform Opponents ... ...including Gov. Tom Corbett are going to have to wait a little bit longer for a challenge to the law's constitutionality to make its way through the federal courts.
"The justices turned down a request by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a leading opponent of the law, to resolve questions about its constitutionality quickly. The Obama administration opposed Cuccinelli’s plea.
Only rarely, in wartime or a constitutional crisis, does the court step into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts. Hearings already are scheduled in May and June in three appeals courts.
The case still could reach the high court in time for a decision by early summer 2012.
Cuccinelli said he asked for speedy review to end “crippling and costly uncertainty” about the law.
“Expediting our case would have been the exception and so, although disappointing, this is not surprising,” he said."
In an interview last month, Corbett said the litigation eventually will end up before the high court anyway and ""Pennsylvania and all other states need clarity" on what the law expects of them.
At a news conference this afternoon, Corbett said he was not surprised by the high court's decision, noting that it rarely moves to expedite cases.
"That would be an unusual move for their part," he said, adding later, "I guess they wanted to see what the different appellate courts would have to say ... I think it just delays the inevitable, but the the justices do as the justices want."
Asked how the court's action might affect the implementation of the law in Pennsylvania, Corbett said he'll "have to sit down with our Department of Welfare and see where we are and see what the timeline is."
If You Remember ... ...sixth-grade math, then the chances are good you remember the dreaded word problem. This morning, parents from around the state posed one to Gov. Tom Corbett: If they were selling cookies at a fund-raising bake sale, priced at three for $1, then how many would they have to sell to make up for the more than $1 billion in K-12 subsidy cuts to public education in the administration’s 2011 budget plan?
The actual answer is 3 billion. But Susan Spicka and Erica Burg of Shippensburg, Cumberland County, beg to differ.
“There are not enough cookies in Pennsylvania to make up for the cuts that [Corbett] has proposed,” Burg said during a rally in the Capitol rotunda.
Standing behind tables piled high with freshly baked cookies, the two parents called on the administration to restore funding to the state’s school districts. One by one, they read the name of each district and how much money it would lose under the administration’s $27.3 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
To make up for a loss in federal stimulus money, Corbett’s budget plan would roll back funding for public schools to 2008-09 levels. In response, districts across the state have said they’ll be forced to cut programs and jobs to make up for the missing cash.
The administration has challenged districts to tighten their belts and impose voluntary pay freezes. It’s also pushing legislation that would require voter approval for any tax increase that outpaces inflation.
Rosemary Miller, a kindergarten teacher on maternity leave from the Methacton schools in Montgomery County, rejected the administration’s claims that it’s cutting costs just as any family does during a tough time.
“I don’t tell my daughter, ‘Sorry, baby girl, you can’t have milk,’ even if it’s expensive and doctors say it’s vital to your development,” said Miller, as her year-old-daughter, Claire, reclined in a stroller at her feet. “That’s exactly what Gov. Corbett is doing.”
Despite warnings from the administration that tough times – in the form of a $4 billion budget deficit – meant tough choices were ahead, Spicka said she and other parents were blindsided by the administration’s decision to slash education, even as it boosted spending on state prisons and cut business taxes.
Spicka accused the administration of giving “cookies to corporations and crumbs for children.”
She called on the administration to approve a severance tax on natural gas drillers working in the Marcellus shale belt and to close loopholes in state law allowing some businesses to avoid paying corporate income taxes. Taken together, the two measures would raise roughly $800 million a year, she said.
Such a scenario seems unlikely. Corbett has said repeatedly that he will not sign a severance tax. He has also vowed to close the deficit without raising any state taxes or fees.
Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers. PTA types from across Our Fair Commonwealthconverge on the Capitol this morning to drive home the need for restoring cuts to public education funding.
In an interview with The Shippensburg News-Chronicle, organizers say the sale is "a good way to demonstrate the challenges facing our local schools.”
"We want to send the message that there simply aren't enough cookies in Pennsylvania to make up for the devastating cuts proposed by Gov. [Tom] Corbett's budget," Erica Burg, the parent of two children in the Shippensburg schools, tells the newspaper.
Corbett's budget plan rolls back funding for public education to 2008-09 levels before the arrival of federal stimulus money. The administration has spun this as a funding increase, because there's more money than 07-08 levels.
But the budget plan also zeroes out the so-called "Accountability Block Grants" that many districts had used to underwrite tutoring and all-day kindergarten programs -- the sort that candidate Corbett said was critical for kids to get a leg up as they began their schooling.
Festivities get underway at 10 a.m. this morning on the Capitol steps and run until noon. If it's raining, which looks likely, organizers will move into the Capitol Rotunda.
The rest of today's news starts now.
Better Know A Freshman. A biannual Capitol Ideas feature makes its return this morning. All this month, we'll be introducing you to members of the freshman class of 2011. Hopefully, you'll learn something about a lawmaker you didn't know before. First up, it's Rep. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster.
Name: Ryan Aument Age: 34 Hometown: Landisville County: Lancaster Party: Republican Last Actual Job Before You Were A Politician: Production Supervisor at ICI Paints in Reading, PA. Before that I was an infantry officer in the United States Army (Captain) Last Book Read: "Master of the Senate," by Robert Caro. In honor of the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War I am currently reading Shelby Foote's three volume series, "The Civil War." Favorite Movie(s):Forrest Gump, Napoleon Dynamite, Amazing Grace, Gettysburg. Favorite TV Show(s):The Office, Seinfeld, The West Wing. Political Role Model: William Wilberforce. Phillies Or Pirates: Phillies. Eagles Or Steelers: Split household. My wife is a Steelers fan. I am an Eagles fan. Our seven month old son Jack also clearly favors the Eagles. Cheesesteak Or Primanti Bros: Cheesesteak Do you have any idea why central Pennsylvanians drop the verb "to-be" from their questions and statements? IE: "Does your baby need changed?" or "This drink needs refreshed." Because we don't get it either: I suppose it is because we central Pennsylvanians properly resist the passive voice. If I Wasn't A Legislator, I'd Be: I'd likely go back to school to earn a law degree, MBA, or M.A. in History. The Congress of Vienna settled which international issues (and no fair using Google to answer); I resisted the temptation to search via Google, however I did consult with my wife ( a history teacher). We believe the Congress of Vienna had something to do with resolving issues post-French Revolution.
Good Sunday Morning, Fellow Seekers. Happy Easter to our Christian readers. The rains have finally ended and the sun is shining here at Casa de Capitol Ideas as we ready ourselves for an egg huntin our little corner of suburbia.
For our Jewish readers, Happy Passover. We observe both holidays hereabouts, in a joint festival that we've come to think of as Easterover. Thus, we are eating unleavened Danish and praying for the Easter Bunny, who died for our sins so that we might someday celebrate Christmas. Or however the heck it is that works.
But while you ready yourself for the worship service of your choice, here's a quick roundup of the headlines making news this morning. Have a terrific day and if you have your family nearby, give them a hug. That's what today's all about anyway.
The Tribune-Review takes a look at the administration's ongoing efforts to sell its spending plan. The governor's public schedule takes him to Pittsburgh, Erie and Chester County in the coming days.
The state is pondering penalties for Chesapeake Energy in the wake of last week's natural gas accident in Bradford County, the Post-Gazette also reports this morning.
The Tribune-Review looks at the conservative swing in the state House and the legislation that's come out of the lower chamber -- the Castle Doctrine, welfare reform, construction code changes -- since the beginning of the new session.
The Big Think. With his friend Christopher Hitchenswaging a fight against cancer, the author Martin Amis pays tribune to a towering literary talent in the pages of The Observer this morning.
OK. That's it for today. Have a peaceful and happy Easter. We'll see you all back here tomorrow.
In a statement released this morning, the Jefferson County Republican said that lawmakers have kept too much money in reserve and that his bill would "[institute] the appropriate balance needed to continue operations in case of a budget impasse."
Scarnati's legislation would allow the General Assembly to keep enough funds in reserve to see it through a protracted budget stalemate. In general, that's believed to be about three months' worth of cushion.
"I have stated time and time again, the reserve account is greater than it needs to be, and hopefully when this bill becomes law, that will be rectified," Scarnati said. "This is just another step in reforming the way business is done in Harrisburg."
An audit conducted last year by the independent Legislative Audit Advisory Commission recommended that the 253-member General Assembly, one of the nation's largest and most expensive, keep less money in its reserve funds.
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers. For reasons that are entirely too complicated to explain, we are seriously behind the eight ball this morning. So we're going to dispense with the pretense and dive right into the usual mix of gossip, irresponsible speculation and outright fabrications that you've come to expect from us.
Oh, and in a bit of good news, it appears that things in #Flushburg (thanks to @Yammerin for the hashtag) are finally back to the normal -- as normal as the Capital City gets, these days, anyway. State workers are back on the job and that hideous grinding noise you hear are the gears of state government slipping back into place.
Your Top Five Headlines Start Now:
1. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is firing back at Republican critics, saying the allegations they've made about misconduct at the agency has impugned its integrity, the Tribune-Review reports this morning. In a letter released Wednesday, all seven board members called on GOP Reps. Curt Schroder of Chester County and Mike Vereb of Montgomery County to turn over to them the substance of any alleged wrongdoing by the board's Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, the Trib reported. "Any refusal on your part to provide the information only makes you complicit in undermining the integrity of gaming, which you so strongly allege is occurring," the board members harrumphed. While not exactly meeting it with peals of hysterical laughter, Vereb did shrug off the board's demands. There's zero chance, if I find any criminal wrongdoing, I'm going to go running to the agency I'm criticizing for not doing anything with it in the first place," Vereb told the newspaper. "How can they demand we turn it over? There's no chance I'll flirt with obstructing a criminal investigation."
2. The same day a gas spill forced the evacuation of residents in Bradford County, the Pennsylvania Game Commission signed off on expanded natural gas leasing on state lands, netting $18 million, the AP reports. According to the AP, the money will help the cash-strapped agency, which has cut back on such programs as raising pheasants for small-game hunting, while going a dozen years without raising license fees that are its main source of financial support. About two-thirds of the lease money is payment for the extraction of natural gas from beneath game lands in Bradford and Lycoming counties in northern Pennsylvania by way of wells that would be drilled on adjacent, privately owned land. Another lease on game lands in adjoining Tioga County will allow up to three well pads – each of which can host multiple wells – and pipeline construction, the AP reported.
3. The state's new Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission won't send a report to Gov. Tom Corbett until July, but the Republican administration is already making some regulatory changes, the Post-Gazette reports. For openers, there's Tuesday's order that gas drillers stop hauling wastewater to 15 municipal treatment plants by May 15. Other, earlier changes gave DCED Secretary C. Alan Walker incentive to nudge permits along, the newspaper reported. "The industry is not waiting for any commission recommendation," Jan Jarrett, the president and chief executive officer of the environmental group PennFuture, tells the newspaper. "It's speeding right along."
4. Three Democratic state legislators tell the Observer-Reporter of Washington County that a decision on an impact fee on natural gas drillers working in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale belt could be coming soon. "It would be in everybody's best interest to figure this thing out right now," Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, told the newspaper as he took the obvious by the neck and throttled it to within an inch of its life. Costa and Sen. Vince Hughes, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, toured the county with Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Washington, earlier this week, the newspaper reported.
5. The state's head bean-counter says revenue from Pennsylvania's casinos this year will provide $776.2 million in property tax reductions, or an average of about $200 per homeowner. Though the actual reductions will vary by school district, that's the average it's been every year since lawmakers legalized casino gambling in 2004. Final figures should be available in May, when counties report the number of people who have signed up for property tax relief, state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby's office said in a statement. School districts will receive their share of property tax relief in two equal payments in August and October.
On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning. From The Boo Radleys, here's the classic "Wake Up, Boo!" Should be enough to keep the sun shining.
OK. See you back here in a bit with more news and updates.
"CANTON, Pa. — Operators have lost
control of a natural gas well in rural northern Pennsylvania, leading to a spill of fluids used in the drilling process.
Bradford County emergency officials say thousands of gallons of tainted water have spilled from a Chesapeake Energy Corp. well site near Canton since early Wednesday.
Francis Roupp is deputy director of the county emergency management agency. He tells The Associated Press there were no injuries, explosion or fire.
He says fluids have reached a small stream but "no adverse effects" have been reported. He says a cracked well casing is suspected.
Chesapeake spokesman Rory Sweeney says the company is preparing a statement."
From Our Ironic Timing Desk ...
... comes this press release from the front office:
Governor Corbett Announces $134 Million Investment in Water Infrastructure Projects in 21 Counties
HARRISBURG – Governor Tom Corbett today announced the investment of $134 million in 25 non-point source, drinking water and wastewater projects in 21 counties.
“Today’s approvals by the PENNVEST Board of much-needed funding for clean water projects throughout the commonwealth affirms my administration’s commitment to protecting and improving the environment while creating a solid foundation for future growth in Pennsylvania,” Governor Corbett said. “Despite challenging economic times, the PENNVEST Board is investing in our future and protecting our environment.”
Of the $134 million total, $75 million is for low-interest loans and $59 million is offered as grants.
The awards range from a $100,000 loan to install water distribution lines in a Westmoreland County community so that residents will no longer have to haul drinking water to their homes; to a $36 million, evenly split loan/grant combination to upgrade and expand a wastewater treatment plant in Allegheny County to eliminate overloading of the facility during wet weather and the resulting discharges of waste into the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers.
The funding approved today comes from a combination of commonwealth funds approved by voter referenda, federal grants to PENNVEST from the Environmental Protection agency and recycled loan repayments from previous PENNVEST funding awards. Funds for the projects are disbursed after bills for work are paid and receipts are submitted to PENNVEST.
For more information about PENNVEST, visit www.pennvest.state.pa.us.
A full list of projects follow below. Please join us in our newest parlor game: "Spot The Dauphin County Projects."
UPDATE, 1:05 p.m.: Non-essential employees in the executive branch have been told they can go home from 1 p.m. There is no water in the building.
Jokes About ...
... the amount of waste produced by state government on a daily basis are entirely your own. But we can say this is a major inconvenience.
If you're heeding nature's call today, here's a clip-and-save list of locations:
Forum Building, revolving doors
Finance Building, revolving doors
North Office Building, North Street side
Keystone Building, North Street side
Keystone Building, Commonwealth Ave. side
Three in front of Main Capitol entrances
Three at East Wing Fountain (one now, two more coming later).
Looking To Break ... ... a four-decade-old Republican lock on the office, Former Democratic U.S. Congressman Patrick Murphy of Bucks County on Wednesday declared his candidacy for state attorney general in 2012.
Asked Wednesday how he planned to succeed where past Democrats had failed, Murphy said:
“I was only the second Democrat to hold my seat in Bucks County and the first Iraq War veteran to win and serve in the United States Congress,” said Murphy, who represented Pennsylvania’s 8th District on Capitol Hill from 2006 to 2010, when he was defeated in a rematch by current GOP U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick.
Murphy said his familial ties to law enforcement – his father was a Philadelphia cop – and his experience prosecuting accused terrorists, proved his law and order bona fides.
“Pennsylvanians need someone to stand up for them, to protect them from criminals in the street, to protect our most vulnerable,” he said. “And they need an outsider to Harrisburg who will root out corruption.”
Murphy praised Gov. Tom Corbett’s prosecution – while attorney general – of the Bonusgate public corruption case, which has resulted in the conviction of one former lawmaker and the arrests of two dozen people formerly associated with the House Democratic and Republican caucuses.
Murphy did not comment directly on complaints from within his own party that Corbett did not pursue Republicans enthusiastically enough in his investigation of the illegal use of tax dollars for political purposes.
“People are tired of folks who get into elected office and feather their own nest,” Murphy said.
Asked how he might have pursued the investigation differently, Murphy responded, ““I want to be very clear: if there is a crime committed, I could care less if it is Democrat or Republican. I want to bring about justice.
At least two Democrats, Dan McCaffrey of Philadelphia, and Lackawanna County prosecutor Kathleen Granahan Kane, have been mentioned for the seat, which will be open for the first time since Corbett defeated Democrat Jim Eisenhower in 2004 and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli in 2008.
Murphy welcomed a potential primary.
“When I ran in 2006, I had $322 in my bank account. I literally went through three pairs of shoes,” he said, adding, “I am going to go to all 67 counties in PA. And I’ll probably wear out three sets of tires.
Candidates are already positioning themselves for bids for the state’s other, elected row offices. Earlier this month, state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat from York County, announced an exploratory committee for a bid for auditor general.
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato has also been mentioned a possible candidate for the post. Current Auditor General Jack Wagner is serving out his second and final term. It’s widely expected that current Treasurer Rob McCord of Montgomery County will seek a second term. After the drubbing his party took last fall, McCord is only one of a handful of Democrats serving in statewide office.
Since leaving office last year, Murphy has split his time between teaching at Widener University Law School in Harrisburg and working in the litigation practice of the statewide law firm of Fox Rothschild.
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Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy ... ... of Bucks County will throw his hat in the ring for a 2012 bid for Attorney General.
A formal announcement from Murphy, who lost his 8th CD seat last fall to Republican Mike Fitzpatrick, is expected later today. Murphy's making the rounds of media outlets -- including your humble blog -- to make things official.
No Democrat has ever captured the post in the four decades that it’s been an elected office. Current Gov. Tom Corbett defeated Democratic challengers in 2004 and 2008, as he went on to win two terms as the state’s top lawyer.
But reminding us that politics is just middle school with better clothes,executive branch employees are being asked to return to work on a two-hour delay this morning. The state House is on a normal schedule, insofar as the House is ever normal, of course.
The city's schools are closed today, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg reports.
In a statement, the state Office of Administration said the "delay is being authorized to aid the city of Harrisburg as it continues with repairs to a main water line.
In addition, employees are being asked to "exercise maximum water conservation practices while working in the Capitol Complex." And a boil-water advisory remains in effect for all workers and residents in the city until further notice.
Fortunately, the Capitol pressroom has its own watercooler. And we're packing the official Capitol Ideas camp stove just to be on the safe side.
Here's the official statement from The Governor's Office:
"On Wednesday, April 20, 2011 non-essential employees under the Governor's jurisdiction who work in the Capitol Complex (offices located in the buildings between Seventh and Front Streets, and Chestnut and Reily Streets in Harrisburg, and other facilities in the city of Harrisburg who have been authorized to close earlier this week) are authorized to report two hours after their normal starting time. This delay is subject to the provisions of Management Directive 530.17, Partial and Full-Day Closings of State Offices. This delay is being authorized to aid the city of Harrisburg as it continues with repairs to a main water line. Employees are advised of the following:
Employees are to exercise maximum water conservation practices while working in the Capitol Complex.
The boil water advisory remains in effect for all residents and workers in the city of Harrisburg until further notice.
Employees should prepare to bring with them adequate drinking water as needed for their work shift.
Employees should expect periods of low water pressure at work sites while the city continues to make repairs.
All these actions are necessary to help ensure an adequate water supply is available for essential activities and public and fire safety. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter."
So would now be a good time to ask when state government is going to get serious about infrastructure repairs?
For our Harrisburg-based readers, The Patriot-News questions the absence of Mayor Linda Thompson during an emergency that essentially brought the Capital City to its knees for 48 hours. The P-N also has some fine pictures and video of the water main break.
Citing A Concern ...
... about the safety of drinking water, state environmental officials have called on
natural gas drillers working in the burgeoning Marcellus shale formation to stop taking wastewater to 15 treatment plants by May 19.
Drillers have been criticized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and by environmentalists for the practice, which the DEP had allowed at some facilities despite tighter water discharge standards that were passed in December, the Post-Gazette reported this afternoon.
In a statement, the DEP the state had found elevated levels of bromide in surface water samples from rivers in western Pennsylvania, where the majority of gas drilling is taking place.
Bromide is a non-toxic salt compound that, when it reacts with disinfectants used by municipal treatment plants, turns into a substance known as “Total Trihalomethanes,” or “THMs.” Studies have shown a link between the ingestion of, and exposure to, THMs, and several types of cancer and birth defects, the P-G reported.
“Now is the time to take action to end this practice,” Krancer said in a statement.
In other gas-producing states, such as Texas, wastewater is pumped deep underground into so-called “injection wells,” keeping it out of streams and rivers. But in Pennsylvania, some drilling wastewater is treated by sewer authorities, mostly in the western part of the state, and then discharged into rivers.
Erika Staaf, of the advocacy group PennEnvironment, said Tuesday that while the plants can dilute the wasterwater, they are not equipped to fully treat it, resulting in partially treated wastewater being discharged into waterways from which communities draw their water supplies.
“That was our concern,” she said. “You don’t necessarily know the quantities of materials that could come from many different wells,” said Staaf, who called Tuesday’s action by the state “an incredibly positive step forward.”
While there are “several possible sources for bromide other than shale drilling wastewater,” Krancer said the state believes that if drilling “operators would stop giving wastewater to facilities that continue to accept it … bromide concentrations would quickly and significantly decrease.”
Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for driller Range Resources, told the P-G that the company supports the DEP’s action.
“One of the criticisms of the Marcellus industry is that we aren’t thinking long-term,” he said. “This shows our concern.”
Pitzarella added that the industry believes “these issues are manageable and we were going to rely on science to solve them. At this point, I think the science is clear that it's causing a problem and we can treat the water without sending it to grandfathered treatment plants."
Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers. If you're reading these words, and you're an employee of our Fair Commonwealth who works in Harrisburg, the chances are good that you're doing it from the comfort of your own home.
The Governor's Office says non-essential employees have the day off. Ditto for employees of the state Senate.
The Capitol was shuttered yesterday as Harrisburg city crews worked to fix a leak that happened sometime on Sunday night. The AP reported that a contractor ruptured a fire hydrant line on a semi-industrial property just north of the Capitol, causing a leak from a 36-inch distribution line.
A boil-water advisory remains in effect for some parts of the city.
Here's the official statement from the Governor's Office:
"On Tuesday, April 19, 2011, non-essential employees under the Governor's jurisdiction who work in the Capitol Complex (offices located in the buildings between Seventh and Front Streets, and Chestnut and Reily Streets in Harrisburg) are authorized for a full-day closing due to new problems with the municipal water supply.
After the city reported another water main break and officials expressed concerns about maintaining safe water pressure, the Office of Administration authorized this office closing for non-essential employees.
All partial and full-day closings are subject to the provisions of Management Directive 530.17, Partial and Full-Day Closings of State Offices."
Facing A 50 Percent Cut ...
... in state funding, the chancellor of Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities
boasted Monday that when Hollywood looks for animators for hit films such as “Toy Story” it turns to Edinboro University in northwestern Pennsylvania.
During an appearance before the Pennsylvania Press Club’s monthly luncheon, state System of Education Chancellor John Cavanaugh said the schools, once known as a training ground for teachers, also counts best-selling author Dean Koontz and YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley among its alumni.
Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 slashes funding for the SSHE schools, which also include Kutztown University in Berks County and East Stroudsburg Universiity in Monroe County, from the current $503 million to $232 million starting July 1.
The proposed cuts have provoked on-campus demonstrations at Kutztown and other schools. And last month, hundreds of state system students rallied on the Capitol steps and visited with lawmakers to plead the case for restored funding.
Sixty sitting legislators are graduates of the state-owned schools and lawmakers in the House and Senate are already actively looking for ways to restore funding.
During his press club speech Monday, Cavanaugh stressed the role the schools play in providing an affordable education in which students receive valuable training for state employers.
Eighty percent of state system students remain in Pennsylvania after graduation, so they are not "contributing to the brain drain," he said.
Asked during a question-and-answer session why he believed the SSHE schools had been targeted for reductions, Cavanaugh demurred.
"I'm not the person to ask that question of," he said. But looking to turn funding cuts into lemonade, he noted that the cuts had thrust the schools into the spotlight and "it's given us an opportunity to talk about the 14 universities that people don't know much about."
"We see it as a great opportunity we might not have for a long time," he said.
It's A Day Of Sorts ...
... for state employees after a water main break in Harrisburg shut down the Capitol
complex.
From The AP:
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A water line break in Harrisburg that left parts of the city with low water pressure turned Monday into an unexpected day off for many state employees.
The governor's office on Monday morning sent home employees in the Capitol complex as crews worked to fix a leak that happened some time during the night.
A contractor ruptured a fire hydrant line on a semi-industrial property just north of the Capitol, causing a leak from a 36-inch distribution line, and crews may need all day to fix it, city officials said.
While state employees filed out of the Capitol in a low-key evacuation, a group of third-graders from a Roman Catholic school in Norristown were treated to a tour of the nearly empty building by their state representative, Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery.
The youngsters from Visitation BVM School had been waiting to get into the Pennsylvania State Museum next door when they were advised that the building was being closed for the day.
“They told us we couldn't go and everyone is so sad,” said Sue Decker, one of several parent-chaperones, adding that the children had been especially looking forward to seeing the Planetarium and the wooly mammoth skeleton. “They're going to take the kids to Chocolate World (in Hershey) to make it up to them.”
The children also got to meet Gov. Tom Corbett, who they said talked about his days as a Catholic school student.
“I saw the governor and he shook my hand — my right hand, to be exact,” said pupil Kaitlyn Maggio.
Gov. Tom Corbett ... ... told a convention of township supervisors this morning that he's going to keep a close eye on the state's burgeoning Marcellus shale gas industry, even as he repeated a vow not to impose a severance tax on drillers.
"I will protect the environment, but I will help grow an industry that is hiring Pennsylvanians and giving hope," to parts of the state that have been struggling, the Republican governor said.
Corbett's stance did not go over well with some of the local leaders, one of whom shouted out, "They're poisoning our water."
Corbett responded immediately, "I will not let them poison the water ... We have to protect the water. But we have to do it based on science and not emotion. It is a very unusual time. I have to come in as the leader of Pennsylvania and approach it [drilling] in a calm and level-headed way."
Addressing the 89th convention of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, Corbett offered a defense of his $27.3 billion budget, repeating familiar arguments that the administration faced "tough choices" when it took the reins in January.
"I started out my political career as a township commissioner. It’s not much different," said Corbett, who served as a township commissioner in Shaler Twp., Allegheny County, in the 1980s. "Everyone comes up to you when you’re at the diner – can’t you fix that road? Why didn’t you plow my street first? We kind of have the same thing."
Corbett spent much of his speech justifying the administration's spending cuts -- particularly to public education. But he offered his most impassioned defense yet for his opposition to a severance tax on drillers, which has widespread support in many public polls.
Apparently anticipating criticism he observed, "People say even Texas has an extraction tax," but "Texas doesn’t have a personal income tax. Texas doesn’t have a property tax. So when we're talking about taxes, we should compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges."
Corbett, who has come under fire from environmentalists for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from drilling interests last year, told the local leaders that he would have developed the same policies "if they had not given me a dime. I would still be saying we need to grow the jobs in Pennsylvania."
Speaking to reporters afterward, Corbett said he's open to considering a locally levied impact fee that would help counties and municipalities in the drilling zone deal with the public impact of gas exploration.
"To me, it's more of a fee than a tax," said Corbett, who vowed on the campaign trail last year to oppose any state fee or tax increase. He said he plans to sit down with Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, who's office is developing the fee legislation to "see where he's going."
Anyone remember “The Trojan Rabbit?” There’s this great scene in the 1975 screwball classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” where, in the course of trying to capture a castle held by a company of daffy French knights, King Arthur and his cronies build a gigantic, wooden rabbit that they push to the gates of the stronghold.
The French, noticing the gift, pull the rabbit inside as Arthur and his knights look on. There’s just one problem, unlike the Trojans of old, they’ve completely forgotten to hide inside the rabbit so they can take the castle by storm. Seconds later, the rabbit comes flying over the castle walls and lands on two hapless attendants, crushing them.
That’s the scenario that leaped to mind last week when it was revealed that, during a private meeting with Republican senators, acting Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis let the news slip that the administration was actually on the fence about the school vouchers bill that the Senate GOP had positioned as its marquee effort for the new legislative session.
Angered that they were staking political capital to a controversial bill guaranteed to annoy hometown public school teachers and their powerful union, the Senate GOP, in effect, kicked the empty rabbit over the castle wall, crushing plans for a vote on the bill and delaying it by at least two weeks.
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That’s a tortured metaphor to be sure. But the results of last week served as a stark reminder that, despite big Republican majorities in the House and Senate and GOP control of the Governor’s Mansion, getting a vouchers bill signed into law is far from a slam dunk.