PennDOT Still Assessing Damage from Lee

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PennDOT is still checking roads and bridges that were flooded by Tropical Storm Lee and assessing the full impact of the storm.  Spokesman Steve Chizmar says they fully expect damages will exceed 100 million dollars

The problems range from entire bridges and sections of road swept away, to minor shoulder washouts that can be more easily repaired.  The damage is spread out across the eastern part of the state, but Chizmar says the majority of problems are  in the nine county District 3 region, which is  based in Montoursville.

Chizmar says even major roads were affected. A section of Interstate 81 in Schuylkill County had to be completely reworked before it could be reopened.  He says it was a devastating flood that impacted basically the eastern third of Pennsylvania.

Chizmar says in some cases, the damage is not immediately apparent. He says anytime you have water sitting on top of the road or flowing heavily along the road, it can undermine the roadway.  He says they know the areas where they’ve received damage in the past for high water, and are they’re out inspecting those areas.  But he says if someone spots new damage, they can report it to 1-800-FIX-ROAD. He adds the 800 phone line is not just for potholes but any kind of road damage.

Chizmar says this kind of damage comes at a bad time. He says you’re adding more damage to a transportation network that is already underfunded and under stress.  He says the storm has magnified the importance of transportation.

PA Gaming

Report Provides New Table Games Data

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August 2010 was the first full month for table games at Pennsylvania casinos, so the August 2011 revenue report includes the first year-to-year glimpse at table games revenue in the Keystone State.  For instance, the nine casinos operating in August 2010 raked in $34.6-million in gross revenue.  Those same nine casinos collected $48.6-million in gross revenue last month, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s figures. 

Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino opened up in September 2010, so year-over-year numbers aren’t yet available for it. 

Much of the increase in revenues can be attributed to the growth of table games on the casino floor.  There were 636 tables operating at nine casinos in August 2010.  Those same nine casinos were operating 871 tables last month. 

Parx Casino in Bensalem has the most table games operating (172).  Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem had the most gross table games revenue last month ($10.8-million).  July 2011 still stands as the biggest gross revenue month for table games, with $56.2-million collected across all ten casinos.  That number was $54.7-million last month. 

Pennsylvania’s table games law taxes gross revenue at a rate of 16%.  14% is funneled into the state’s General Fund.  2% is tacked on as a local share.

PA School Districts

Survey Shows How Schools Balanced Budgets

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Things are a bit different this school year, according to a report from the PA Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) and Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA). 

The groups surveyed Pennsylvania’s school districts and found that 44% have reduced elective course offerings, and even some core subjects.  35% have reduced or eliminated programs that provide struggling students with extra help, and 20% eliminated summer school programs.

“It wasn’t any silver bullet, it was a combination of both personnel and programmatic reductions in order to get [districts] within their balanced budget,” PASBO executive director Jay Himes tells Radio PA.  He says this will not be a one year problem, stressing school districts’ rising pension obligations. 

The school districts responding to the survey reported that 8,365 positions were eliminated through furloughs and unfilled vacancies.  Statewide, the groups say, this means more than 14,000 affected jobs.  294 of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts responded t o the PASBO/PASA survey. 

Pennsylvania lost 1,300 jobs in the Education & Health Services supersector, in August, according to the Pennsylvania Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment report.  The statewide jobless rate now stands at 8.2%. 

President of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Michael Crossey says teachers predicted that students would feel the consequences of state budget cuts.  “This report confirms our predictions,” Crossey said in a statement.  The PSEA is the state’s largest teachers union. 

When accounting for the loss of federal stimulus money, basic education funding decreased by about $400-million, in the state’s FY2012 budget.  Other education line items to take significant hits were the Accountability Block Grants ($150-million), and the elimination of state reimbursements for charter schools ($220-million).   

Governor Tom Corbett has said the reduction in K – 12 education spending is the direct result of the end to the federal stimulus program.  He says school districts should not have balanced their budgets with stimulus dollars.

Flooding From Lee Causes Damage to Game Commission Properties

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Flooding from Tropical Storm Lee has taken at toll on property owned by the state Game Commission.   Damage is still being assessed, but is expected to be in the millions.

The losses include thousands of pheasants at two Lycoming County game farms, Loyalsock and Northcentral,  that were killed or escaped.  There was also damage to buildings and holding fields at the farms.  

Game Commission Executive Director Carl Roe says nearly 30 to 40 thousand pheasants that had been raised and ready for release for this fall’s hunting season have perished or escaped.  He says they’re doing what they can to recapture those that escaped, but the losses could total up to 40% of the total pheasant production planned for this year.

Roe says these are significant losses that will force them to re-evaluate fall stocking plans.  He says it’s too late in the season to raise additional pheasants or purchase birds from private property owners to replace these losses.  Roe adds the facilities were recently improved using Growing Greener II dollars.  He says the damage could jeopardize plans to double production next year.

There was also road and bridge damage state game lands 12, 36, 57 and 211 in Bradford, Wyoming, Luzerne, Dauphin and Lebanon Counties. Roe says roadways on state games lands 12 and 36 are impassable and several bridges are gone as flood waters washed them away. State game lands 57 had considerable road damage from flooding. State game lands 211   had the old railroad grade washed out in several places.  He says the damage forced postponement of the public tours planned in October for those game lands.

***Photo of Ring Necked Pheasant by Joe Kosack/PGC Photo

U.S. Army Launches Virtual Job Fair Website

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With the economy still struggling to produce jobs, the U.S. Army Harrisburg Battalion has partnered with PA Careerlink to develop a plan designed to help unemployed Pennsylvanians find training and jobs in their communities.

 The plan centers around the new website www.pajobhelp.com.  Staci Cretu, Chief of Advertising and Public Affairs for the Harrisburg Battalion, says many citizens don’t realize that the U.S. Army Reserve has hundreds of job opportunities for Pennsylvanians looking for work.  Cretu says the website showcases the U.S. Army’s strength in partnering with communities to promote jobs and career training in Pennsylvania.  Cretu says the Army Reserve gives civilians the chance to receive job training, work in their community and serve their country all at the same time. 

The Army’s job opportunities, along with the more than 52,000 job openings currently listed by PA Careerlink, can all be found at the new website.

Farmers Still Assessing Damage From Lee

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Flooding from Tropical Storm Lee dealt another blow to farmers, following an already difficult summer.   It will take awhile to get a full picture of the damage in areas hit by flooding.  Mark O’Neill of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says some farmers still can’t get to all of their fields.  He says conservative estimates put the losses at tens of millions of dollars, but it may take weeks or more to get a complete tally.

 O’Neill   says farmers need to document their damage, including taking photos when possible, and contact their local farm service agency to report their losses as soon as possible. He says that way the farm service agency can try to get further assistance for farmers. He says crop insurance will help, but won’t cover all of the loss.  

O’Neill says it’s already been a tough summer.  Hurricane Irene knocked down some corn crops and dropped fruits in orchards.  Excessive rain has hit vegetable crops.   He says tomatoes can crack on the vine from too much moisture. There’s also the potential for rot and mold with the additional rain from Lee, affecting anything from cucumbers to pumpkins.  A rainy spring delayed the planting of some crops.

There was a bit of good news.  In northeastern Pennsylvania, flood waters blocked numerous roads.  As a result, some dairy farmers could not transport their milk to processors.  Some had to dump the milk.  But O’Neill says they’re getting word some of those farmers will be paid as if they delivered that milk.

Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 2011 is the worst year for weather disasters resulting in losses of one billion dollars or more.  Hurricane Irene put the total at 10, topping the 9 incidents in 2008.  Officials do not believe at this time that damage from Lee will reach that mark, but those totals are still being tallied. The year has been marked by record floods, tornadoes and drought.

DEP Acts to Expedite Processing and Disposal of Flood Waste

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State environmental officials have taken steps to make it easier to get rid of flood debris.  The Department of Environmental Protection is working to ensure flood debris is removed properly and as quickly as possible.   

DEP has allowing disposal sites to take flood debris from vehicles that do not have Act 90 authorizations and suspending state tipping fees to reduce the financial burden on homeowners. It’s honoring requests to increase daily volume and hours of operation at disposal sites and allowing counties to establish waste aggregation stations.  For all other municipal waste that’s received, the fees continue to apply, as do the facility’s and host municipality’s fees.

Secretary Michael Krancer says   people should separate out any household hazardous waste, because they do not want it included in this wave of visits to the landfill.    He says people should work with their local municipalities to get flood debris to the right place, so it’s disposed of timely and properly.

Disposing of waste in a timely manner will also help cut down on breeding ground for mosquitoes, among other potential problems. Krancer says the department is looking at doing some additional spraying for control of mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile Virus. He says to the extent that’s necessary, it will be done.  He says vector control is part of the strategy of response and recovery to the flooding.

PA Abuzz Over Possible Electoral Changes

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The Constitution allows each state the ability to determine how its electors are assigned in presidential elections.  In 2012, Pennsylvania will have 20-electoral votes.  How they are awarded… is now the subject of debate.  Under the current system, all 20 would be awarded to the winner of PA’s popular vote, but some believe there is a better way to do it. 

Dominic Pileggi

State Senator Dominic Pileggi (R-Del.)

State Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) is backing a plan that would divvy up the votes based on election results in each of the state’s 18 congressional districts, plus two votes being awarded to the winner of PA’s popular vote.  “This proposal is designed to more closely align Pennsylvania’s Electoral College vote with the popular vote in the state,” says Pileggi spokesman Erik Arneson. 

Governor Tom Corbett indicated his support for the plan on Radio PA’s monthly Ask the Governor program.  “I think it more closely reflects the vote across the state of Pennsylvania,” Corbett says, “Many people complain about the electoral process and that people are disenfranchised.  This makes the state much more competitive across the entire state.” 

This is the first time such a plan has been offered in Pennsylvania, and Franklin & Marshall College political science professor Terry Madonna believes there would be consequences.  For instance, he believes Pennsylvania’s relevance – in practical terms – would be reduced to 5 – 7 electoral votes.  “That that means that other states, with larger electoral votes, that are competitive, will get far more attention,” Madonna says, adding that this system would not have changed the outcome of any election in modern history, had Pennsylvania been using it. 

Pennsylvania and 47 other states currently follow the winner-take-all model; only Nebraska and Maine follow the model being put forth by the Senate Republican Leader. 

As Democrats have won Pennsylvania in each of the past five presidential elections, many Democrats are calling it a political power grab.  “This is exactly the behavior that is turning the public against politicians,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman Jim Burn said in a statement. 

But Erik Arneson points out that the new system would actually benefit President Barack Obama, if a Republican takes Pennsylvania in 2012, as some pundits predict.  While telling us that it’s about fairness, not politics, Arneson also points out that the plan has been criticized from both sides of the aisle. 

Senator Pileggi is currently circulating a co-sponsorship memo.  The bill should be officially introduced in a few weeks, and they’ve already requested a committee hearing.  After the hearing, Arneson says, they will decide the next course of action.

Cash

Auditor General Questions Oversight of Public Assistance Benefit Cards

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Auditor General Jack Wagner

The state Auditor General is questioning the oversight of public assistance that’s distributed through electronic benefits transfer cards.   Jack Wagner says he can’t say with assurance that the cards are being used properly and only for their intended purposes. He says that’s because the Department of Public Welfare has not provided enough records and supporting documentation for a proper review by his office.

Wagner says 5.2 million dollars in cash for welfare benefits was used for out-of-state purchases or cash withdrawals in May of 2010.  He says 80% of the transactions occurred in bordering states.  Beyond that, he says his department known nothing about the types of purchases that were made.

Wagner says they want to make sure in these tough economic times; all available resources are there for those in need.  He says  his intent is not to raise unfair suspicions about welfare recipients.  He says his concern is over DPW’s refusal to properly administer programs to prevent the system from being “gamed”.

In a special report, Wagner says DPW needs to develop an internal review process to monitor transactions made with the cards, to make sure funds are spent in accordance with their intended purpose. Wagner says that oversight should include confirmation that a recipient still resides in Pennsylvania and should restrict access to ATMs in establishments that are inconsistent with the intent of the program.

In a written statement, the Department of Public Welfare responded to Wagner’s special report on the EBT cards. The department says that it takes its responsibility to make sure benefits are provided only to those eligible very seriously. Steps have been taken to review out-of-state transactions and potentially questionable benefit usage.

The statement says with respect to the Auditor General’s request, Secretary Alexander is very interested in open and transparent government.  DPW plans to accommodate the Auditor General to the fullest extent permitted by law.