Posted by Website Admin on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Anya Sostek:
Whether any amount of texting should be allowed is an issue that has conflicted Pennsylvania legislators. Many legislators recognize the danger that hand-held cell phones and other distractions can pose for motorists, but there is a strong reluctance to impose “nanny government” on citizens.
Last spring House members narrowly rejected a bill by state Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, that would have banned texting while driving. It would have made it a “primary offense,” meaning police could stop a car if they saw the driver distracted by cell-phone chatting or texting.
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Posted by Website Admin on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
From Thomas Celona, Staff Writer for The Ambler Gazette:
State Reps. Mike Gerber, D-148, Josh Shapiro, D-153, and Rick Taylor, D-151, met with the Upper Dublin School Board Oct. 12 in a public meeting to discuss the newly passed state budget and its impact on education funding.
Gerber, Shapiro and Taylor are three of the four state representatives whose districts include portions of Upper Dublin Township. The fourth is Tom Murt, R-152.
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Posted by Josh Shapiro on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
101 days late, but the state finally has a budget. In the end the budget we passed is balanced, makes important investments and reasonable cuts without unduly burdening Pennsylvania taxpayers. However, there is no excuse for the delay and reforms are needed to ensure that future budgets are passed on time.
As we considered the FY2009-10 budget, the Commonwealth faced an unprecedented $3.5 billion deficit due to the recession and falling revenues. Our choice was to cut billions in spending from our $28 billion budget, raise taxes to cover the shortfall, or do some of each.
We opted to do some of each.
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Posted by Josh Shapiro on Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The President hit a home run with his health-care speech before a joint session of Congress last month. He forced us to step away from the 24-hour cable chatter and really focus on the issue at hand — fixing our broken health-care system.
We know that we can no longer accept the status quo where costs go up and lives are cut short. In America today, premiums go up, coverage options go down, and all the while family budgets and the American economy face bankruptcy due to soaring health-care costs. A Harvard study published last month estimated nearly 45,000 deaths annually are associated with the lack of insurance coverage. Physicians can prevent and treat the disease, but only if the patient can see the doctor and afford the treatment.
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Posted by Website Admin on Sunday, October 11, 2009
Jan Murphy writing for The Patriot-News:
Students are transferring to the 14 state universities in numbers never seen before, and some observers cite the state’s college credit transfer law as a reason.
That law and stepped-up recruiting efforts have driven up enrollment at the State System of Higher Education schools to a record 116,935 this fall, officials said. That increase represents a nearly 4 percent rise from last year.
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