April 2, 2014

Chief Justice Castille Asks Lawyers To Support Access To Justice For All

During his final year on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille is making his last formal plea to lawyers to support the Commonwealth’s civil legal aid programs by providing pro bono service through direct representation and financial contributions.
In a letter to Pennsylvania’s approximately 70,000 registered lawyers, the chief justice joined with Pennsylvania Bar Association President Forest N. Myers in calling on attorneys to make a personal commitment to provide pro bono service.
The reminder of their ethical duty to provide public service is being widely distributed to the legal community by the courts and PBA.
The chief justice noted in his letter that Senate hearings held last year across Pennsylvania under the leadership of Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery), Majority Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, underscored the great need among the poor for civil legal services. During the hearings one legal aid provider estimated that the entire system is only helping one out of every 10 persons who qualify for such services.
“Every component of the justice system is offering support, but it is the volunteer efforts of attorneys – whether in direct representation of clients or further financial support beyond part of the attorney annual registration fee – that are essential for success,” Chief Justice Castille said.
The chief justice said that every lawyer in Pennsylvania at present contributes $35 to civil legal aid through the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts portion of annual licensing fees. The IOLTA Board funds legal services for Pennsylvania’s poor. Unfortunately, interest rates under 1 percent have had a devastating impact on the annual revenues of IOLTA.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court also has supported civil legal aid by providing new avenues for funding legal services and by setting up a loan-forgiveness program for legal services attorneys funded by pro hac vice filing fees.
The Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network is the state’s coordinated system of organizations providing civil legal aid for those with nowhere else to turn.  PLAN, whose programs provide legal assistance and access to the courts for Pennsylvanians whose family income is less than 125 percent of the poverty level, is facing a crisis due to a substantial decrease in funds available for civil legal aid.
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Slot Machine Revenue Drops 5.7 Percent In March

The Gaming Control Board Wednesday reported total revenue generated through the play of slot machines at Pennsylvania casinos during March was down 5.7 percent compared to the amount generated a year ago.
According to the report, this March’s gross revenue from slot machine play at the twelve casinos was $216,213,980 compared to $229,335,372 of gross revenue in March 2013. Tax revenue generated in March of this year just from slot machine play was $115,684,705.
In a comparison of just the eleven casinos operating in March 2014 that were also open for the full month of March 2013, revenue was 6.7 percent lower this year.
Gross revenue for each of the casinos operating in March 2014 is as follows, with the percentage change reflected for those casinos.
A more detailed summary is available online.
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Wednesday NewsClips

House Advances Distressed Cities Bill
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April 1, 2014

Natural Gas Price Spikes, Availability Drove Electric Rate Spikes Senate Committee Told

Frederick Bresler, Vice President of Market Operations for PJM, said Tuesday severe winter weather caused record natural gas price spikes and delivery problems that were responsible for about half the electric generation outages on the coldest day of the winter on January 7 forcing the cost of electric from an average of less than $40 per MwH to more than $1,000 per MwH for suppliers, higher than the cap PJM allows generators to charge.
Bresler’s remarks were made before the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee during a hearing to look into the causes and potential solutions to the electricity price spikes consumers suffered during the coldest parts of this past winter. Click Here for more.
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Pennsylvania’s Community Colleges Kick Off Community College Month

Pennsylvania’s community colleges kicked off Community College Month in Pennsylvania Tuesday with a rally in the Main Capitol Rotunda, and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges’ annual Lobby Day event.
The House and Senate have both passed resolutions proclaiming April to be Community College Month, and community college students and staff from across the Commonwealth met with their legislators to discuss the critical role that community colleges play in supporting their local communities throughout the State.
The colleges also had displays set up in the East Wing Rotunda, with students displaying the various skills they have acquired at their community colleges, including broadcast TV production, medical assisting, culinary arts, and more.
The Lobby Day events concluded with a rally in the Main Rotunda of the Capitol Building, featuring community college Presidents, trustees, staff, and students from across Pennsylvania.
Dr. Nick Neupauer, President of Butler County Community College and Board Chair of the Commission, opened the event, and Montgomery County Community College Board of Trustees Chair Mike D’Aniello provided an impassioned plea for the Commonwealth to recommit to investment in community colleges, which has fallen off dramatically in recent years.
Two students, Tyler Friel of Butler County Community College, and Heather Welsh of Delaware County Community College shared their experiences at community college, and the positive impact it had on their lives.
Tyler is a communications major and aspiring sportscaster at Butler, and Heather is Pennsylvania’s 2014 Coca Cola Silver Scholar. Senators Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) and Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) spoke in their roles as Chairmen of the Senate Education Committee, as did House Education Committee Chairmen Representatives Paul Clymer (R-Bucks) and James Roebuck (D-Philadelphia), a Community College of Philadelphia trustee.
The festivities began in earnest Monday, with the 45 members of the 2014 All-PA Community College Academic team being honored on the floor of the House. The All-PA Team consists of outstanding community college students from across the Commonwealth, and the program is administered by Phi Theta Kappa, the national two-year college honors society. Later that evening, the students were honored at the 20th
Annual All-PA Awards Banquet, hosted by former WITF Smart Talk host Nell McCormack Abom. Caitlin Brown of Lehigh Carbon Community College, Pennsylvania’s 2014 New Century Scholar, delivered the keynote address.
For more information, visit the PA Commission for Community Colleges’ website.
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March State Revenue Collections $100M Below Estimates, $176M Below For Year

Pennsylvania collected $4.2 billion in General Fund revenue in March, which was $20.7 million, or 0.5 percent, less than anticipated, Secretary of Revenue Daniel Meuser reported Tuesday. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $20.5 billion, which is $96.3 million, or 0.5 percent, below estimate.
But it’s worse than that according to Secretary Meuser.
“While March tax collections appear to be only $20 million short of estimate for the month and $96 million short, fiscal-year-to-date, an early transfer of $80 million in liquor store profits to facilitate cash flow disguises the fiscal reality,” said Meuser.  “Considering the timing issue behind the liquor store profits, we’re really about $100 million short for the month and $176 million under for the fiscal year.”
Sales tax receipts totaled $676 million for March, $44.1 million below estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $6.7 billion, which is $111.1 million, or 1.6 percent, less than anticipated.
Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in March was $914.5 million, $30.5 million above estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $7.8 billion, which is $70.6 million, or 0.9 percent, below estimate.    
March corporation tax revenue of $2.3 billion was $81.8 million below estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $3.8 billion, which is $700,000 below estimate.
Inheritance tax revenue for the month was $90.9 million, $6.4 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $633.3 million, which is $9.5 million, or 1.5 percent, below estimate.
Realty transfer tax revenue was $27.9 million for March, $1 million below estimate, bringing the fiscal-year total to $276.3 million, which is $13 million, or 4.5 percent, less than anticipated.
Other General Fund tax revenue, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and table games taxes, totaled $69 million for the month, $2.2 million below estimate and bringing the year-to-date total to $1 billion, which is $11.7 million, or 1.2 percent, below estimate.
Non-tax revenue totaled $129.1 million for the month, $71.5 million above estimate, bringing the year-to-date total to $304.9 million, which is $120.4 million, or 65.3 percent, above estimate.
In addition to the General Fund collections, the Motor License Fund received $208.7 million for the month, $100,000 above estimate. Fiscal year-to-date collections for the fund – which include the commonly known gas and diesel taxes, as well as other license, fine and fee revenues – total $1.8 billion, which is $13.4 million, or 0.8 percent, above estimate.
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Tuesday NewsClips

Anonymous PA Web Speech May Not Be So Anonymous
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