Posted by Mark Koenig on Thursday, December 16, 2010
The account, which critics call a “slush fund,” has fallen lately, to one lawmaker’s approval.
Tom Barnes of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes:
The General Assembly’s reserve account, dubbed a “slush fund” by some legislative critics, has been reduced but remains robust.According to an audit of legislative finances released Tuesday, the reserve fund ended fiscal 2010 on June 30 with a $188 million surplus, down $13 million, or 6 percent, from a year earlier, said State Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery).
He chairs the bipartisan Legislative Audit Advisory Commission, which hires accountants to do the annual audit. Shapiro noted, approvingly, that the size of the reserve fund has been gradually dropping, from $230 million two years ago to $201 million last year, and now to $188 million.
The reserve fund has been defended by legislative leaders as necessary for keeping themselves and their staff on the payroll if a state budget isn’t ready by the annual deadline of July 1. That happened in 2009, when the new state budget was more than 100 days late.
But some General Assembly critics think a kitty of $200 million or so is too large, especially when legislators will need to find ways to cut state spending. A deficit of at least $3 billion is being forecast for the fiscal year that starts July 1, and many agencies are facing budget cuts.
“We are in extraordinary fiscal times in Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “We need to find every dollar in state government to save.”
A year ago, he noted, the audit commission had recommended drastically reducing or even eliminating the reserve fund, but that has not happened. Without some amount of reserve, legislative leaders fear that whoever is governor would have an edge in budget deliberations, because legislators won’t have their own independent budget expertise.
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Posted by Mark Koenig on Tuesday, December 7, 2010
From Montgomery Media:
State Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-153, recently announced $325,000 in funding for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association of Greater Philadelphia.
The funding will help provide much needed in-home care, medical equipment and clinical services to people living with ALS across the state.
“My constituent Wes Rose, who is battling ALS, first talked to me five years ago about the need to support ALS patients and their families,” said Shapiro. “Together we fought to secure this critical funding and I’m proud that we are able to help so many in our region who are living with ALS.”
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Posted by Josh Shapiro on Thursday, November 4, 2010
Friends,
I’m writing to simply say, thank you.
With your help along with thousands of volunteers and donors, we were able to mount a strong campaign and win reelection to the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives. In a competitive district and facing strong political headwinds, we received 70 percent of the vote. I’m grateful to the more than 17,000 voters–Democrats, Republicans and Independents–in Abington and Upper Dublin who again entrusted me with their vote.
You’re sending me back to Harrisburg to continue our efforts to create jobs, reform state government, improve education and much more. I’m ready for that fight, but Harrisburg will look different next year. We’ll have a new Republican Governor and the Republicans will control the House and the Senate. I won’t be afraid to cross the aisle to work with them to advance our goals but I also won’t be afraid to stand up to them respectfully when we disagree. The political circumstances in the Capitol may be different but I’ll be working for you with the same energy and determination.
I hope you’ll keep up with our efforts on Facebook and Twitter and stay in touch by email.
Thanks again for your outstanding support.
All the best,
Posted by Mark Koenig on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Editorial from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
It’s good news that fewer teens are dying in car wrecks, due to more restrictive licensing rules for younger drivers.But despite the trend in many states, Pennsylvania lawmakers are still standing by the roadside in their failure to agree on ramping up driver safety rules for teens.
The state has yet to join 30 states, including New Jersey, that have texting and handheld phone bans in place – targeting risky activity that’s particularly prevalent among teen drivers.
Nor has the state given police the right to stop motorists solely for driving without a seat belt, a key enforcement measure that, again, would benefit first-time drivers.
Finally, the state needs to limit the number of passengers who can carpool with a new driver.
Highway accident experts have documented that a young driver’s risk of a fatal crash rises dramatically with each new passenger who climbs into a car.
State House members had the right approach on these issues, embodied in a bill championed by Rep. Josh Shapiro (D., Montgomery). But Senate members strongly favored a lighter touch, both in the area of enforcement and in limits on teens’ passengers.
By getting nowhere, though, both chambers failed young drivers, their families, and the other motorists whose safety is put at risk by careless drivers. After doing very little in the last brief session, state lawmakers have gone home for the year, focused instead on getting reelected next week.
When lawmakers return in 2011 with a new governor, they should take up the issue of greater safety measures for young drivers. It’s one policy that can actually reduce insurance and health costs, and, more important, save lives.
Posted by Mark Koenig on Thursday, October 21, 2010
Bradley Schlegel of The Reporter writes:
Don’t text while driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That’s the message of a safety-awareness campaign launched by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
The statewide campaign — introduced Sept. 30, in conjunction with the 70th anniversary of the turnpike — is intended to highlight the danger of distracted drivers, according to Bill Capone, the commission’s director of communications and public relations for the PA Turnpike Commission.
In 2009, more than 120 turnpike accidents were attributed to driver distraction, according to a prepared statement. It also states that 93 distracted-driving accidents occurred on the turnpike during the first six months of this year.
(…)
Texting bans have been enacted in 32 states, including Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York, the release states. Bans on all handheld devices have been enacted in eight states, including Delaware, New Jersey and New York.
In April 2009, the state House overwhelmingly approved legislation that banned text messaging for all drivers and cell phone use for novice drivers, according to a release from the office of state Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-153rd District.
A month later, the Senate amended the bill to make texting a secondary offense, meaning law enforcement officers could only cite teen drivers for using a cell phone if they had been stopped for another offense or been involved in an accident, according to another release.
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