Governor Corbett: No Democrats at the Table Because Democrats Want to Spend

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Governor Tom Corbett met with top Republican leaders of the House and Senate earlier this week and says the lawmakers came in asking for all of the $27.7 billion in their spending proposal. That’s more than the $27.1 billion the governor proposed last February and he says his fellow Republicans didn’t understand that their number should be the ceiling in the starting point of negotiations.

Corbett says talks are now occurring daily as he and legislative leaders try to settle on a number somewhere in between. However, during his appearance on Radio PA’s Ask the Governor program on Thursday, the governor confirmed that no democrats have a seat at the table. Governor Corbett says that’s because Democrats want to “continue to spend” while he says Republicans have shown they are trying to “save money in some areas.”

For those hoping to see some restoration of the proposed cuts in the governor’s budget, Corbett says he is indeed looking for areas to inject additional funding following a few months of better-than-expected revenue collections from February through April. The May numbers dipped back below estimates, however.

Governor Corbett says he remains committed to meeting the June 30th deadline for a new General Fund budget.

 

Dick Winters Statue Dedicated at Normandy

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Today marks the 68th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and the likeness of one heroic Pennsylvanian is helping to pay tribute to many who sacrificed and risked everything that fateful day in 1944.

Hershey, Pennsylvania native Dick Winters was a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne when he parachuted into the town of Saint Mere Eglise. That event and the exploits that followed would eventually be chronicled by historian Stephen Ambrose in the book Band of Brothersand the HBO mini-series of

Dick Winters
Pennsylvania native Dick Winters will stand watch over Normandy as a tribute to all junior U.S. military officers who stormed the beaches or jumped into France in 1944

the same name. Winters died last year, but he has become so respected his likeness is featured in a new monument that was dedicated at Normandy today. The statue honors the leadership of all junior U.S. military officers who stormed the beaches or jumped into France in 1944.

Planning for the monument took more than two years, but many agree that Winters is a fitting representative of the brave men who landed and jumped on D-Day. Major General James McConville is the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division. He says Dick Winters personifies what a leader is all about.

Several family members of Easy Company veterans were on hand for the statue dedication.

 

*WITF radio’s Tim Lambert provided content and photos for this story

 

Could You Be Impartial?

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The Herculean task of finding 12 men and/or women to sit on Jerry Sandusky’s jury is underway at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte. The former Penn State football Defensive Coordinator is charged with more than 50 counts connected to the alleged molestations of at least 10 young boys over a 15 year period.

The trial is playing out in Centre County, home to Penn State University and The Second Mile, the charity founded by Sandusky more than 30 years ago. Prosecutors allege that Sandusky used the charity to prey on vulnerable at-risk boys.

Questions about whether or not an impartial jury can be found in Centre County have been floating around since the charges were revealed last November. The lawyers on both sides will face unique challenges in this case, as they try to weed through the list of potential jurors for a trial that is expected to take several weeks.

Robert Power, a law professor at Widener University in Dauphin County says he believes the court can find 12 impartial jurors, but that the process could take some time, certainly longer than in a typical case where voir dire can take as little as an hour or two. Power says even potential jurors with no ties to the university or any other aspects of the case may have formed opinions about it based on more than 6 months of intense media coverage.

The court has set aside this entire week for selection of a jury and the alternates. Testimony is not expected to begin before Monday, June 11th.

 

Capitol, State Capitol, Dome

Top Republicans to Meet with Governor Tom Corbett

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As the 2012 budget season prepares to enter the final stretch run, top Republican leaders from the state House and Senate were planning to meet with Governor Tom Corbett on Tuesday to present their negotiated budget package.

The state Senate passed a general fund budget last month that spends about a half-billion dollars more than the governor’s original proposal, which was unveiled in February. Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi says the two chambers have ironed out “about 90%” of their differences in preparation for talks with the administration. Indications are that lawmakers are hoping to restore some of the governor’s proposed cuts to higher education if the universities promise to rein in any tuition increases for the coming year. Cuts to basic ed and county services could also be partially restored after the Commonwealth saw increased revenue collections in recent months.

The governor proposed a $27.1 billion general fund budget in February. He is scheduled to visit PAMatters.com for his monthly Ask the Governor program on Thursday.

 

Courtroom

Rulings Issued Ahead of Sandusky Trial

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The judge has issued several rulings ahead of the start of jury selection June 5th in the Jerry Sandusky trial.

The media will not be allowed to tweet, blog or communicate electronically from the courtroom during the child sexual abuse trial of the former Penn State assistance football coach. Judge John Cleland  reversed part of an earlier Decorum Order that would have allowed reporters to tweet during the trial.

The judge has also denied requests from alleged victims 3,4,5 and 7 to keep their identities concealed during the trial.  In his ruling, the judge said that there is no support in Pennsylvania law for offering anonymity to an adult witness because the witness is one of a class of victims of a particular crime.

Judge Cleland is denying a request by Sandusky’s lawyer to order prosecutors to turn over information they collected about potential jurors.

Later in the day, the state Supreme Court denied a request to delay the trial. Sandusky’s attorneys had turned to the state’s highest court after the judge and a state Superior Court panel also rejected the motion to delay.

Cash

State Revenues Come in Below Estimates in May

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Overall General Fund revenue collections in Pennsylvania were lower than anticipated in May according to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.   The state collected 1-point-9 billion dollars in General Fund revenue last month, 2-point-3 percent less than expected.

It follows two months of stronger than expected revenues in March and April.  The state Senate’s proposed budget restores some funding cuts Governor Corbett had proposed in February, based in part on the better collections those months.

Sales tax receipts, personal income and corporate tax revenues were all down for the month of May.  However, other General Fund tax revenue collections, including cigarette, malt beverage, liquor and table game taxes, were 7-point-9 million above projections at 131-point-5 million for the month.

So far with one month left in this fiscal year, collections total 24-point-9 billion,  1-point-3 percent or 332.9 million dollars below estimate.

Back in February, the governor’s office projected the state would end the fiscal year $719-million dollars below estimate.

RadioPA Roundtable

Radio PA Roundtable 06.01.12

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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/Roundtable06-01-12.mp3]
Courtroom

Training Tool Does More than Meet Federal Mandate

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A federal mandate requires specialized training for lawyers representing abused and neglected children, if the state is to continue to receive $950,000 dollars a year for related services.  The state Supreme Court’s Office of Children and Families in the Courts responded with a first-of-its-kind training DVD.

“Even though it started out to particularly meet a federal mandate, it really turned into a lot more,” says Butler County Judge Kelley Streib, who co-chaired the panel that helped create the new training tool for guardians ad litem.

The video includes all of the relevant laws and procedures, but we asked Judge Streib to explain what really stands out in her mind:JudgeStreib

“No longer is it acceptable to have children languishing for years in the dependency system,” Streib explains.  That’s been a major focus of both the state courts and Department of Public Welfare in recent years.  Since 2006, the number of dependent children in temporary foster care has been reduced by 33%.

New Law Sets Guidelines for Protecting Young Athletes

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Governor Tom Corbett traveled to Visitation BVM Elementary in Norristown Wednesday to sign House Bill 1610 into law.  It’s designed to protect young athletes from Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Darren Sudman lost his 3 month old son Simon to Sudden Cardiac Arrest and set out to find ways to protect other children.  He says the new law will make a difference, by making parents aware of the risks.

The new law mandates that coaches complete a training course once a year. Students who want to take part in athletics will have to take home a list of symptoms and their parents will have to read it and sign it. Children who show symptoms will have to be screened by a medical professional before being allowed to return to sports. Warning signs can include fainting, shortness of breath, chest pains, dizziness and a racing heart rate.

The new law takes effect in 60 days.  It was sponsored by Representative Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery). 

Vereb says the bill is education, it’s awareness, it’s making Sudden Cardiac Arrest a household conversation.

Governor Corbett says the bill includes guidelines to inform students, parents and coaches about the warning signs.  He says the law will mean that once coaches spot those signs, they’ll take the student out of the game.

The Governor was   surrounded by parents who had lost a child to Sudden Cardiac Arrest as he signed HB 1610 into law. He said it’s a law of prevention born of very painful loss and the spirit of generosity from these families who have seen beyond their own sorrow and have found hope for others.

Sudman said the legislation will be the hand print of Simon and Representative Vereb on the hearts of children throughout Pennsylvania.  The Sudman Family, through Simon’s Fund, helps provide free screenings to children in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Cash

House Mulls Payday Loan Bill

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Pennsylvania’s consumer protection laws effectively bar payday lenders from operating in the state, but they can’t stop unlicensed companies from targeting Pennsylvania consumers with their ads.  By locating out-of-state and doing business online, State Rep. Chris Ross (R-Chester) says these unregulated businesses can trap Pennsylvanians in a cycle of debt with their high charges.

Ross has introduced a bill that would create new short-term lending regulations in hopes of providing Pennsylvanians with a safer, less costly option.  “These are things that we’ve worked at with the Department of Banking and my colleagues in the Senate to try and provide as much protection as possible,” Ross explained to Radio PA.

HB 2191 would cap these short-term loans at 25% of a borrower’s paycheck, and require that an existing loan be paid off before a new one is obtained.  Another provision would enable eligible borrowers to obtain free credit counseling.

But critics believe the proposed cure is actually worse than the problem.  “It bumps the interest rate that you can charge on a small loan from where it is currently, which is around 24%, to 369%,” says Keystone Research Center labor economist Mark Price.  “That is a remarkable increase that will lead to the dramatic expansion of payday lending.”

Price is referring to the loan’s annual percentage rate (APR).  He uses the example of a $300 dollar, two-week loan.  Under the Ross bill, the borrower would be charged roughly $43-dollars.  Crunch the numbers for the course of a year and it brings you to the previously cited APR.

“We have the prospect now of hundreds of these payday lending storefronts opening up all across the commonwealth,” says Price.

Ross says unlicensed payday lenders are currently charging twice the maximum his bill would allow.  HB 2191 has already cleared the House Consumer Affairs Committee with a bipartisan vote of 20 – 4.  It now awaits further action on the House floor.