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PennDOT says “Just Drive”

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The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation  has launched a new effort to highlight safety for National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.  It’s a simple message, “Just Drive”.

Spokeswoman Erin Waters says drivers need to focus on the task at hand.  She says your only responsibility while driving, is to focus on driving.  

Waters says they want people to consider they have their own life and the lives of people around them in their hands.

It’s not only a slogan; it’s also a web site-justdrivePA.com. Waters says it has resources for drivers and information on distracted driving.  According to estimates for 2011, more than 14 thousand crashes in Pennsylvania involved a distracted driver, resulting in 58 fatalities.

Waters says drivers also need to wear their seatbelts, not drive impaired and look out for pedestrians, motorcycles and all other vehicles.

Lawmakers Debate Downsizing in Election Year

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Every two years, 228 of the General Assembly’s 253 seats are up for election.  2012 is one of those years, but what makes it unique is that it’s the first time that lawmakers are giving serious consideration to the idea of legislative downsizing.   

Pennsylvania has the largest full-time legislature in the country.

“It will make the legislative process more efficient because members will be able to communicate better and understand the other person’s problem,” says Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Jefferson), who gave the issue immediate clout when he sponsored the constitutional amendment last year. 

But activist Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA says that – as reforms go – this is sleight of hand.  “It’s something that diverts your attention to things that are a whole lot more important,” Potts says.

Democracy Rising’s 2012 Public Integrity Poll did find 62% of Pennsylvania voters support downsizing the General Assembly.  That’s significant, but Potts says it’s fairly low on the list of improvements that Pennsylvanians would make.  He points to the 72% who want to change the system for redrawing legislative districts, the 74% who want to limit campaign contributions, and the 93% who want lobbying reforms. 

Speaker Smith’s legislation (HB 153) was originally penned to reduce the size of the 203-member House by 25%.  It was amended on the House floor to also include a similar reduction in the Senate, from 50 to 38-seats.  It passed the House earlier this month with a vote of 140 – 42.  A spokesman for the Senate Republicans says their chamber is expected to take up the measure in May or June.

A constitutional amendment must pass the General Assembly in two consecutive sessions before it can be put to the voters in the form of a ballot referendum.  HB 153 is designed to take effect following the 2020 census.

Cash

Buffett Rule Appears to be Big Election Year Tax Battle

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President Barack Obama is pushing it; his likely Republican challenger rejects it; and the US Senate can neither advance nor kill it.  At issue is the so-called Buffett Rule, which would ensure that Americans whose incomes exceed $1-million dollars pay a minimum tax rate of 30%. 

“This is a gimmick, it’s a political gimmick,” US Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) said on the Senate floor this week.  Toomey believes the ongoing debate is an effort to engage in class warfare and distract from the Obama administration’s economic mismanagement. 

But Keystone Research Center labor economist Mark Price says you can’t pay down the nation’s massive budget deficit without raising additional revenue.  “Very wealthy households are able to take advantage of tax loopholes to pay less of their income in taxes than many middle class Pennsylvania families,” he says. 

In their Buffett Rule analysis, Price and the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center examined seven of the richest zip codes in the nation.  What they uncovered was an effective tax rate of 17.2%.  By comparison, they found that 99% of the Commonwealth’s taxpayers live in zip codes where the average tax rate is higher. 

Pennsylvania is home to roughly 10,000 millionaires, but Price believes the Buffett Rule would only impact between 1,000 and 4,000 of them. 

The Buffett Rule’s namesake – billionaire investor Warren Buffet – has just revealed that he’s been diagnosed with an early stage of prostate cancer.  In a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett indicated that it is not life threatening or debilitating.

New Policy May Ease Compliance with Voter ID Law

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The Department of State estimates that 99% of eligible voters already have an acceptable form of photo ID under Pennsylvania’s new Voter ID law, and they’re simplifying the process for many of the rest. 

Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele announced a new policy, Wednesday, which will allow eligible voters with an expired driver’s license to obtain a new non-driver photo ID without having to produce a birth certificate or other proof of identification. 

Secretary Carol Aichele

The theory is that if you have an expired license, you’re already PennDOT’s system, and you’ve already produced proof of ID.  “You don’t even need to produce your expired license.  You just need to give your name to the PennDOT customer service representative and they will locate your information from the database,” Secretary Aichele explained at a capitol news conference.      

Aichele believes this will be especially beneficial for senior citizens who no longer drive.  The new process also applies to expired non-driver photo IDs.    

Next Tuesday’s primary election will mark the “soft roll-out” of the Voter ID law, which means voters will be requested to produce a photo ID – but it will not be required.  “Voters not showing acceptable ID will be given a handout listing the photo IDs that are acceptable in November, and how they can get a free photo ID from PennDOT for voting purposes,” Aichele says. 

The state is budgeting $1-million dollars to cover the cost of issuing those free ID cards to eligible voters who affirm they need them for voting purposes.  Such ID cards would normally run you $13.50. 

“It is our intent to make sure every eligible voter in Pennsylvania has a photo ID,” Aichele says.  The goal of the new Voter ID law is to ensure the integrity of every vote.

Holocaust Commemoration: Never Forget and Never Again

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Victims are being remembered, and survivors are being honored.  Radio PA’s Matt Paul takes us inside the 2012 Civic Commemoration of the Holocaust. Holocaust Commemoration

International Car Theft Ring Busted, More Than Two Dozen Charged

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More than two dozen people have been arrested in a $2.3 million luxury car theft ring that shipped vehicles out of the country to overseas buyers.  The Pennsylvania Attorney General and State Police say the 26 suspects from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New York were responsible for the thefts of at least 57 vehicles in the Philadelphia and Newark New Jersey areas. The investigation was known as “Operation Wheels of Fortune.”

While many cars were taken from dealerships, at least 17 were taken in carjackings or other violent incidents. Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office says the investigation is ongoing.  He says there’s a booming international business and a demand for these types of vehicles and someone will try to figure out how to make money on that.

Frederiksen says luxury vehicles and SUVs would often sell for 25 to 30% more in West Africa than they would in the United States.  Some of the stolen vehicles were recovered at the docks where they were to be loaded on shipping containers bound for West Africa.

Frederiksen says part of the operation involved an organized effort to steal cars from dealerships in the Philadelphia area.  The thieves would then contact a broker, or middle man, to deal the cars. He says the buyers were a group of individuals from Philadelphia and New York would were making arrangements to ship cars quickly out of the country.

Frederiksen says they intercepted what was believed to be an organized network of thieves, brokered middle men and a group of individuals looking for cars to ship overseas.  He says they don’t believe these were the only people doing this.

Pennsylvania voters select candidates

One-on-One with Patrick Murphy, Democrat for Attorney General

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Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy grew up in a law enforcement family in Philadelphia, and joined the Army at the age of 19.  “Most of the time I was a military prosecutor, prosecuting serious criminals in New York and North Carolina,” Murphy says of his military career.  He twice deployed overseas, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

A 2006 grassroots campaign landed Murphy in Congress, where he led the fight to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.  In 2010 Murphy lost his Bucks County seat to Mike Fitzpatrick – the same man he defeated two terms earlier. 

Murphy has been practicing and teaching law for the past few years, and tells us he’s ready to stand up for what is right as Attorney General.  “You’ve got to fight crime wherever it happens,” Murphy tells us, “whether that crime happens on the street, in the corporate boardroom or in the halls of Harrisburg.” 

This too is a grassroots campaign for Murphy, who’s been traveling the state in the weeks leading up to the April 24th primary election.  “I’ve put 47,000 miles on my car, I literally have holes in my shoes right now,” he says. 

If the Democratic candidate is elected in November – whether it’s Murphy or Kathleen Kane – it would be history making, as no Democratic has ever been “elected” Attorney General in Pennsylvania.  It became an elected office in 1980. 

Murphy says he would aggressively crackdown on environmental crimes, consumer protection issues and sex predators.    “I’m going to do what’s right every single time.”

You can hear portions of our interview with Patrick Murphy on Radio Pennsylvania Roundtable.  Radio PA has also reached out to Democrat Kathleen Kane’s campaign.

RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 04.13.12

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Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files.

Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable04-13-12.mp3]

Legislative Reapportionment Commission Okays Preliminary Plan… Again

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Pennsylvania’s latest set of redistricting maps is now available for public comment.  The redrawn House and Senate maps put more emphasis on reducing municipal splits, and less emphasis on population deviation, per the direction of the state Supreme Court.  The high court threw out the Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s first attempt early this year.

The House maps reduce the number of municipal splits from 108 to 68, according to GOP Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny).  “Population deviation however – in particular reason to reduce splits – did increase from 5.97% to 7.76%.” 

Rep. Turzai notes that five House seats were moved based on the new population data, but he says it was to nobody’s partisan advantage. 

The court-appointed chairman of the five-member panel made waves when he insisted on a change in the proposed Senate map.  Population shifts dictate that a Senate seat be moved from western PA to the northeast.  Senate Republican Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) contends the data dictates that Democrat Jim Brewster’s seat be moved, but he acquiesced to Chairman Stephen McEwen who wanted to move Republican Jane Orie’s seat instead.  Orie was recently convicted on public corruption charges, which means her seat is vacant. 

The Commission voted 4 – 1 in favor of the preliminary maps, with Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) casting the lone dissenting vote.   House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) stressed that this is not the end of the redistricting process.  “I am hopeful and confident that, as we listen and consider public comments, more will get done to improve the final plan,” Dermody said at Thursday’s meeting. 

A public hearing is set for May 2nd.