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November 30, 2013
November 29, 2013
Dec. 2 PA Environment Digest Now Available
Senate Committee To Consider Nominations Of Ferretti At DCNR, Abruzzo At DEP Dec. 4
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on December 4 to consider the nominations of Ellen Ferretti as Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources and Chris Abruzzo as Secretary of Environmental Protection.
Gov. Corbett’s nominees for DEP and DCNR were announced September 20, but the 25 legislative days the Senate has to consider nominations officially began on October 20 with both nominations because that’s when the paperwork got to the Senate.
Both nominations are now on day 16.
The Senate is scheduled to return to voting session December 3 and will be in session a total of five days in December.
If the nominations are not acted on in December, the Governor will have to re-submit the nomination paperwork in January, including new financial disclosure statements, and the Senate will have 10 additional legislative days to consider the nominations.
The meeting will be held in Hearing Room 1 North Office Building starting at 10:00 a.m.
Vote Now For Pennsylvania’s 2014 River Of The Year
The public is invited to vote online for the 2014 Pennsylvania River of the Year now through December 27, choosing from among five waterways nominated across the state: the Schuylkill in eastern Pennsylvania; Kiskiminetas- Conemaugh rivers in the southwest; Ohio in the west; Brodhead Creek Watershed in the northeast; and West Branch of the Susquehanna in the northcentral section of the state.
“So many unique natural resources and recreational opportunities are showcased individually in these nominations,” said Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Acting Secretary Ellen Ferretti. “Collectively, these rivers and streams demonstrate just how blessed Pennsylvania is with its wealth of major waterways.”
Nominations were based on each waterway’s conservation needs and successes, as well as celebration plans should the nominee be voted 2014 River of the Year.
In cooperation with DCNR, selection of public voting choices was overseen by the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR), an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.
“As it enters its fourth year, we have seen the online public selection process become increasingly popular,” Ferretti said. “We also know this spirit of good-natured competition rallies community support around our waterways and puts deserving rivers and streams in the limelight.”
Voting will be managed through Woobox, an online contest application that restricts voting to one vote per email address.
POWR administers the River of the Year program with funding from DCNR. Presented annually since 1983, this year’s designation was awarded to the Monongahela River in southwest Pennsylvania.
"The River of the Year contest allows all Pennsylvanians to highlight the many fabulous waterways they enjoy, whether by boating, fishing, walking, eating, or shopping along the river trails,” said Paul King, president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “While we formally recognize only one river with this award, we acknowledge the unique value of all rivers and their contribution to the overall environmental quality of Pennsylvania and the quality of life to all who enjoy them."
After a waterway is chosen for the annual honor, local groups implement a year-round slate of activities and events to celebrate the river, including a paddling trip, or sojourn. The organization nominating the winning river will receive a $10,000 leadership grant to help fund their River of the Year activities.
The River of the Year sojourn is just one of many paddling trips supported by DCNR and POWR each year. The independent Pennsylvania Sojourn Program is a unique series of a dozen such trips on the state’s rivers. These water-based journeys for canoeists, kayakers and others raise awareness of the environmental, recreational, tourism and heritage values of rivers.
POWR and DCNR also work with local organizations to create a free, commemorative poster celebrating the River of the Year.
To learn more, visit the Pennsylvania River of the Year website, the DCNR’s Rivers Conservation Program webpage and the PA Organization for Watersheds and Rivers website.
Friday NewsClips
Activist Wants Legislators’ Automatic Pike Hikes Eliminated
Click Here for Today's PA Environmental News
November 28, 2013
Thursday NewsClips
November 27, 2013
Wednesday NewsClips
November 26, 2013
Senate Committee To Consider Nominations Of Ferretti, Abruzzo Dec. 4
The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on December 4 to consider the nominations of Ellen Ferretti as Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources and Chris Abruzzo as Secretary of Environmental Protection.
Gov. Corbett’s nominees for DEP and DCNR were announced September 20, but the 25 legislative days the Senate has to consider nominations officially began on October 20 with both nominations because that’s when the paperwork got to the Senate.
Both nominations are now on day 16.
The Senate is scheduled to return to voting session December 3 and will be in session a total of five days in December.
If the nominations are not acted on in December, the Governor will have to re-submit the nomination paperwork in January, including new financial disclosure statements, and the Senate will have 10 additional legislative days to consider the nominations.
The meeting will be held in Hearing Room 1 North Office Building starting at 10:00 a.m.
Corbett Visits Long-Term Care Facility To Highlight Need For Alzheimer’s Plan
During a visit to a long-term living facility Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett recognized Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and thanked members of the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Committee for their efforts to create a state plan to address the disease.
Corbett toured Phoebe Ministries Allentown, a 400-bed long-term living facility, and Phoebe Center of Excellence in Dementia Care. He was joined by Dr. Kelly O’Shea Carney, executive director for the Phoebe Center for Excellence in Dementia Care, and Secretary of Aging Brian Duke, chair of the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Committee.
“As our senior population grows, so does the number of our citizens living with Alzheimer’s disease,” said Corbett. “Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month offers an opportunity to learn more about this disease and how it touches the lives of so many Pennsylvanians.”
Corbett proclaimed November as Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. It has been recognized nationally each year since 1983 as a time to bring special attention to those living with the disease, as well as their families and caregivers.
“An estimated 280,000 Pennsylvanians are living with Alzheimer’s and an additional 120,000 of our citizens have related dementias,” said Corbett. “Those figures confront us with a crisis, but also an opportunity to rise above the problem and together look for ways to effectively respond to it.”
Pennsylvania’s aging population ranks as the fourth grayest state in the nation. The U.S. Census predicts that by 2015, one in four Pennsylvanians will be 60 years of age and older.
Corbett created the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Committee by Executive Order earlier this year. The committee will develop a comprehensive state plan with recommendations to address the disease in Pennsylvania, which will be presented to the governor in February 2014.
“It is imperative that Pennsylvania has a responsive Alzheimer’s State Plan that will provide guidance for families of loved ones with the disease, as well as healthcare providers and organizations,” Corbett said. “I thank the committee for its work thus far and look forward to the final plan early next year, culminating after months of discussion, deliberation and input from the public.”
“It is an honor and a pleasure to serve on the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Committee,” said Carney. “I thank Gov. Corbett for taking time to visit our facility and for the opportunity to help shape an Alzheimer’s state plan that will best suit Pennsylvania.”
Phoebe Ministries has received the Excellence in Care Status of Distinction from the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, the first facility in Pennsylvania to receive such an honor.
Also attending the event were representatives from the Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Commission, local Area Agencies on Aging, United Way of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Council on Aging and the AARP of Pennsylvania.
Sen. Bob Mensch (R-Lehigh), Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), Rep. Hal English (R-Allegheny), Rep. Ryan Mackensie (R-Berks), Rep. Mike Schlossberg (D-Lehigh) and Rep. Steve Samuelson (D-Lehigh) were also in attendance at the event.
Corbett urges all Pennsylvanians to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease during this month of awareness.
For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Alzheimer’s Disease Planning Committee webpage.
Rep. Metcalfe Introduces Impeachment Resolution For Attorney General Kane
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) Tuesday introduced a House Resolution 572 (not yet online) calling for the impeachment of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
“All public officials in Pennsylvania swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth,” said rep. Metcalfe. “Attorney General Kane’s repeated violation of her constitutional, statutory and ethical duties cannot be tolerated if our system of government is to work properly.”
According to the Articles of Impeachment contained in House Resolution 572, on July 11, 2013, Attorney General Kane held a press conference at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to announce that she would not defend the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act against a federal lawsuit.
Her decision and declaration was based solely on her own personal opinion that this lawfully enacted Pennsylvania statute is “wholly unconstitutional.”
Contrary to the personal opinion of Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), who falsely stated that Kathleen Kane is allowed to exercise her “independent judgment” as Attorney General “in a manner which is best and most appropriate for the individual in that office,” the Commonwealth Attorneys Act imposes a mandatory duty on the Attorney General to defend the constitutionality of all lawfully enacted statutes, regardless of personal opinion.
No court has ruled that Pennsylvania’s legal definition of marriage between one man and one woman is unconstitutional.
The most recent U.S. Supreme Court case, United States v. Windsor, declared the federal law to be unconstitutional because it intruded upon the states’ “historic and essential authority to define the marital relationship.”
“This type of misbehavior in office cannot be allowed,” said Rep. Metcalfe. “If an Attorney General can pick and choose which laws are constitutional and which laws she will defend or enforce, then the will of ‘We the People’ through our elected lawmakers is thwarted by tyranny.”
The Articles of Impeachment contained in House Resolution 572 also declare that Attorney General Kane’s refusal to defend the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Defense of Marriage Act led to further violations of the law when the Montgomery County Register of Wills cited Kane’s decision as a reason to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
When the Commonwealth Court entered an order that stopped this practice, the court reiterated the well-established principle that every act of the legislature is presumptively constitutional until a court declares otherwise.
“Attorney General Kane has created a constitutional crisis by refusing to perform her assigned role as the Commonwealth’s chief law enforcement officer,” said Rep. Metcalfe. “Although impeachment is a rarely used legislative instrument, it is our duty as members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to stop her from engaging in further misbehavior in office by acting as a balance of power.”
Rep. Metcalfe’s impeachment resolution concludes with the following excerpt, “Wherefore, Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.”
“Attorney General Kane is not above the rule of the law and the very troubling pattern of abuse she has set during her short tenure as the Commonwealth’s chief law enforcement officer makes impeachment the most appropriate tool to rectify her repeated abuse of power,” said Rep. Metcalfe. “It is my hope that members of the legislature will join me in telling Kathleen Kane, ‘You’re Fired!’”
Tuesday NewsClips
November 25, 2013
Rep. Grell Urges Action On Pension Reform After School Districts Received Increases
Rep. Glen Grell (R-Cumberland) responded Monday to notices sent to school districts advising them that the projected employer contribution rate for the 2014-15 fiscal year will skyrocket to 21.40 percent.
Of that amount, 20.5 percent would be the employer rate to the Public School Employees Retirement System, while 0.9 percent would support the PSERS premium assistance benefit.
“Notices are sent to employers each year for budgeting purposes so that they can anticipate their annual pension costs,” said Rep. Grell. “The projected rate of 20.5 percent would represent the historic high-water mark for employer contributions. They have never been that high, yet the trajectory is still going up. If we don’t act soon, the rate will certainly continue its rise until it exceeds 31 or 32 percent.”
Rep. Grell said that the unfunded liability to PSERS and to the State Employees Retirement System are the driving forces behind the rising employer contribution rates and that the situation only gets worse with each passing day.
“Legislation must be adopted soon to address our unfunded pension liability in a meaningful way,” said Rep. Grell. “Our total liability of between $45 and $50 billion grows each day we fail to act. SERS calculates that its liability grows by $1.013 million per day, and PSERS calculates its liability increases by $2.9 million per day. This means the combined pension funding shortfall facing the Commonwealth grows by a staggering $3.9 million daily.”
“The unsustainable growth in the pension unfunded liability means substantial consequences will be felt in all 500 of Pennsylvania’s school districts,” Rep. Grell added. “It likely will result in staff cuts, cuts to programs, increased class sizes, property tax increases or all of the above.”
Rep. Grell serves as a member of the Public School Employees Retirement Board and has proposed comprehensive pension reform legislation.
Governor Signs Comprehensive Transportation Funding Bill
Gov. Tom Corbett Monday signed into law House Bill 1060 (Pyle-R-Armstrong), Pennsylvania’s most comprehensive piece of state transportation legislation in decades.
The transportation package will keep Pennsylvania safe and economically competitive by investing an additional $2.3 to $2.4 billion into the state’s roads and bridges by the fifth year of the plan and providing funding for transit systems across the state.
A House Fiscal Note (better one) and Senate Fiscal Note summary of the bill are available.
Corbett signed the bill in Centre County. He was joined by supporters of the bill, local legislators and other dignitaries.
“Today I put my signature on Pennsylvania’s passport for the future,” Corbett said. “Through bipartisan spirit and an agreement that crossed party lines it shows that Pennsylvania is a state in which moderation, careful thought and good faith still play a large role in how we govern. Pennsylvania is a state that puts progress ahead of party lines with a common goal of serving our citizens.’’
“This is an investment in the safety of our citizens and the progress of our economy. It will create more jobs and keep Pennsylvanians moving across safe, world-class highways and bridges,” Corbett said.
By the fifth year of the plan, the transportation package will invest an additional:
-- $1.3 billion annually for state roads and bridges;
-- $480 million to $495 million annually for public transportation;
-- $237 million annually for local roads and bridges;
-- $144 million annually in a multi-modal fund;
-- $30 million annually for dirt, gravel and low-volume roadways; and
-- $86 million annually for Pennsylvania Turnpike expansion projects.
Partial funding for the new transportation package is being derived from the elimination of the flat 12-cent gas tax and modernizing an outdated transportation financing structure through the uncapping of the wholesale, Oil Company Franchise Tax.
Pennsylvania law states that revenues from fuel taxes must be directed to highway and bridge-related costs and state police patrol functions and not used for any other purpose.
Many road and bridge projects are slated to start next spring. Also, because of this investment, transit systems in the state will continue to be able to operate without interruption.
“Because we worked together, we can now put shovels in the ground and rebuild our transportation system,” Corbett said. “The men and women who stood for this bill understand that compromise is not surrender, but rather a path to success.”
Click Here for a summary of new investments in dirt and gravel road repair, bicycle trails and other environmental elements.
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