Sunday, October 7, 2012
The long legal battle over Pennsylvania’s new voter ID might finally be resolved — at least until after the election in November.
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Sunday, October 7, 2012
By PA Independent Staff HARRISBURG — A ruling on the controversial new provision was the top story this week, but campaigns continue to heat up with the election fewer than five weeks away. Many are wondering if Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tom Smith’s recent poll surge can be sustained through the final month of the race. On the legislative front, lawmakers approved more borrowing — which taxpayers will eventually have to repay — and a move to eliminate school property taxes hit a major roadblock. Pennsylvania voters unable to secure identification since the state’s voter ID law took effect will be able to have their votes counted on Nov. 6. An order released Tuesday morning from Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson determines the…
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Fewer than six weeks before the presidential election, most of the political world in Pennsylvania is focused on the horse race, even as lawmakers returned to Harrisburg for an abbreviated fall session.
- ELECTIONS
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Sunday, September 30, 2012
By PA Independent Staff HARRISBURG – Mitt Romney has slipped farther behind Barack Obama in recent polling, but the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania is growing tighter, and the three state row offices figure to be hotly contested as well. Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering a new tax incentive program to lure jobs to Pennsylvania from other states – but at a cost – and spiraling debt on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and in the state’s public pension systems is drawing increased scrutiny. Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race wasn’t high on the list of toss-up races. But the battle between first term U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and Republican challenger Tom Smith, a former coal mine executive, seems to have tightened considerably in recent weeks. …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
State Auditor General Jack Wagner detailed the seriousness of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s debt crisis to lawmakers Tuesday in Harrisburg.
- GOVERNMENT
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Auditor General Jack Wagner on Tuesday accused the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission of using “flim-flam financing” to pay off its $7 billion debt. But Roger Nutt, CEO of the commission, said its finances are sound — as long as it increases tolls for the next decade and beyond. And if the motorists don’t pay, Wagner said, “that debt is guaranteed to be paid … by the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.” Wagner told a joint hearing of the House and Senate transportation committees that the turnpike’s unsustainable debt, which is spiraling out of control, will drive up tolls and eventually drive motorists away from the turnpike completely. Nutt argued that the tipping point — when increased toll revenue is …
Monday, September 24, 2012
State reps to discuss a bill that makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone online.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, September 24, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Offending someone online isn’t a crime, but proposed legislation in Pennsylvania would penalize people who take it too far. [This] week, House Judiciary Committee representatives are scheduled to discuss House Bill 2249, which makes it a misdemeanor to impersonate someone online. But the bill has stirred up free speech debates for its potential chilling effect on online communication — or on pranksters. Now, the bill’s sponsor says specific changes will ensure people who are joking with friends, or exercising First Amendment rights, won’t be prosecuted. The sponsor, state Rep. Katharine Watson, R-Bucks, said the bill is targeted toward giving law enforcement a way to penalize online bullying…
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Less than two months before the general election, Pennsylvania voters still don’t know if they’ll need photo ID at the polls.
- GOVERNMENT
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Sunday, September 23, 2012
By PA Independent Staff HARRISBURG – After last week’s hearing in Philadelphia, the state Supreme Court shuffled the voter ID law decision back to the lower Commonwealth Court. And, the high court has yet to announce its opinion on the future of Pennsylvania’s legislative districts under wraps. Also, there’s a mere weekend to go before state lawmakers make their final pushes for the legislative session. The first day back is Monday. Lawmakers are likely to opine on big-ticket topics like transportation, pension funding and property tax reform. But the chance that detailed plans will come to fruition before Election Day is pretty slim – and following Election Day, it’s a lame-duck session. Rather, there’s plenty of work to be done …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Without presidential campaigns to compete with, state races running on smaller budgets have a chance to make a splash in Pennsylvania.
- ELECTIONS
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG – With both major presidential campaigns pulling ads from Pennsylvania airwaves last week, some political observers and operatives see at least a limited opportunity for other races to grab the spotlight. And while residents might be glad to know they won’t be barraged with anti-Obama and anti-Romney ads in the last seven weeks before Election Day, they might have to get ready for lots of ads touting U.S. Senate candidates Bob Casey and Tom Smith, or attorney general candidates Dave Freed and Kathleen Kane. “It’s a much better market right now for the lower level candidates to get their message out,” said Chris Borick, a professor of political science and pollster at Muhlenberg College. Smith, a …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Commentary: Pennsylvania must face the growing and unsustainable costs of retirement benefits for public school teachers and state workers.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Halfway through his first term, Gov. Tom Corbett is about to face his biggest political challenge – one that has little to do with polls but a lot to do with the fiscal future of the Keystone State. Pennsylvania must face the growing and unsustainable costs of retirement benefits for public school teachers and state workers. The problem amounts to about $40-billion liability in payments of benefits to retired public school teachers and state workers. In the coming years that figure will stop being an ominous sign at the bottom of a ledger and start having real consequences for the people of Pennsylvania. Unless changes are made, the state’s contributions to its two pension systems will climb …
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Voter ID Law goes back to court. Here's a wrap up of the news this week from Harrisburg.
- GOVERNMENT
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Sunday, September 16, 2012
By PA Independent Staff HARRISBURG — How much does your vote really matter? A pair of Pennsylvania Supreme Court hearings this week will make that determination. The state’s controversial voter ID law found support from Republicans who argued before the justices that it is needed to counter potential voter fraud, while opponents said it will disenfranchise some voters. The Supremes also heard arguments about the newly revised General Assembly district maps. Opponents say the largely Republican-drawn maps are designed to protect incumbents rather than represent voters, while supporters said redistricting is an inherently political process. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has to sort out a bit of a mess before deciding whether to uphold …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Companies drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania will pony up more than $200 million for their activities in 2011.
- GOVERNMENT
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is set to collect more than $200 million in retroactive fees from natural gas drillers who operated in the state during 2011. A report released Monday by the state Public Utility Commission, which is charged with collecting and distributing the so-called “impact fee” approved by state lawmakers in March, detailed the revenue collected by the new fee but did not include a county-by-county breakdown for how the revenues will be distributed. Counties and local governments will ultimately claim about 60 percent of the drilling fee revenues, but those totals will not be finalized until Dec. 1. The impact fee revenues for 2011 are about $26 million higher than the $180 million in revenue …
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Republican Tom Smith is challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on federal spending and Casey's voting record. Smith opposes abortion even in rape cases.
- ELECTIONS
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Saturday, September 1, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — GOP U.S. Senate hopeful Tom Smith grew up on an Armstrong Countyfarm and spent two decades running a coal mining business, both of which he used to illustrate his political agenda. When business is bad, “you downsize.” And if elected, that’s what he’d do to federal agencies, he said, determining which programs could be cut, if not eliminated. Smith shared a farm analogy of a leaking tractor fuel tank to discuss how he’d treat the federal deficit. “Do you continue to keep putting fuel in it? No. Fix the leaks,” Smith said to the media Monday during a Pennsylvania Press Club event at the Harrisburg Hilton. But his series of fumbling comments regarding his pro-life stance, in which he appeared…
cindyella
6:17 am on Monday, November 19, 2012
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