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Governor Tom Corbett on the death penalty in Pennsylvania
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Governor Tom Corbett on his budget plan that many people aren’t too pleased with.
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Corbett Would Sign Driver Cell Phone Ban
Delaware, Maryland and New York all ban hand-held cell phones and texting behind the wheel. Will Pennsylvania be next? Governor Tom Corbett would sign such legislation. Responding to a listener email on Radio PA’s “Ask the Governor” program, Corbett described how he spends a lot of time on the road these days. Invariably, Corbett says, they’ll pull up beside an erratic driver to find them “texting away.”
It’s not a new issue in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, but one of the big holdups has often been whether to make this sort of distracted driving a primary or secondary offense. Governor Corbett says it doesn’t matter to him, and it doesn’t seem to matter to advocates at AAA either. “A motorist out there really doesn’t know the difference between primary and secondary. A law’s a law,” says AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Jim Lardear.
For instance, Pennsylvania’s seat-belt law is a secondary offense, but PennDOT reports the use rate was 86% last year.
Two bills currently await additional action in the state House. HB 8 originally addressed only texting while driving, but it was amended to add hand-held cell phones as a primary offense. SB 314 originally made both actions a secondary offense, but it was amended to make texting while driving a primary offense.
Corbett Launches Kayak Tour
Governor Tom Corbett will split time between land and water for the remainder of the week, as he begins a three-day kayak tour of Wyoming and Luzerne counties on Wednesday. Corbett says it gives him the chance to see Pennsylvania from a completely different perspective. “I’ve seen it from the roads, I’ve seen it from the air, now I want to see it from the streams and rivers of Pennsylvania,” Corbett explained on Radio PA’s monthly “Ask the Governor” program.
Gov. Corbett will tour the historic Tunkhannock Viaduct during day one of his kayak trip.
It’s going to be a condensed sojourn down the Susquehanna River, due to Corbett’s recent back surgery. “But if it works out, I’d like to be able to do it maybe two or three times next summer, and each summer thereafter,” Corbett says. The goal is to promote Pennsylvania’s natural resources and their impact on the state’s tourism industry.
The First Lady won’t be with him on this trip, but Corbett says the two enjoy kayaking on vacations. This even gives the governor the chance to try out the new kayak Mrs. Corbett bought him for his birthday/Father’s Day back in June.
As many Pennsylvanians remember, former Governor Tom Ridge held similar bicycle tours to promote travel and tourism during his time in office.
Governor Tom Corbett’s Next Appearance Moved to Tuesday, August 9th
Governor Tom Corbett’s next appearance on “Ask the Governor” has been moved up two days to Tuesday, August 9th. Watch for video clips on Marcellus Shale issues, transportation funding and a host of other topics as we continue our monthly series with the governor.
Submit your question today right here at PAMatters.com.
Thank you, Pennsylvania and Keep Those Emails Coming!
This week, we wrapped up our second “Ask the Governor” taping with more fabulous questions from our Radio PA listeners and followers of PAMatters.com. First off, THANK YOU! We launched “Ask the Gov” to provide a conduit between you and your state government and the response has been fantastic. We should also thank Governor Tom Corbett for his time and efforts in giving us this monthly opportunity to interact.
The vast majority of questions emailed in so far have been topical, intelligent and sincere. I only wish we had time enough each month to get to each and every one while we have the governor in the studio. If you do not hear your question in a program, it doesn’t mean we ignored you. It’s possible that we just didn’t have time or we’re saving your question for a future taping. Suffice to say, we’ll get to as many as we can in each show, so keep them coming.
Submitting a question is as simple as clicking on the Ask the Gov link at the top of the PAMatters.com page. Make sure you include your name and town. The one rule we have is: no anonymous questions.
Our next taping with Governor Corbett is scheduled for August 11th. We plan to spend more time on Marcellus Shale issues preview the big items on the fall legislative agenda.
In the meantime, keep checking back with us for the latest news from the state capital and around Pennsylvania, and check us out on Facebook and Twitter (@PAMatters).
Governor Tom Corbett Defends Education Budget
The new state budget has been in place for about two weeks now, but its impact on public schools is still being sorted out. “We don’t know yet how many teachers wound up being furloughed, and how many program cuts, so we’re trying to gather that information,” says Tom Gentzel, executive director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA).
Governor Tom Corbett points out that state education funding has actually increased. “When it comes to the basic education formula, we actually increased it over the 2008/2009 level,” Corbett said on Radio PA’s monthly “Ask the Governor” program. He places blame on the prior administration for cutting school funding from the state, only to back-fill with federal stimulus money. “That money is gone,” Corbett concluded.
By balancing their budgets with federal stimulus money, Corbett says many school districts set themselves up to fall off this funding cliff. At least one school district got it right though, according to Corbett. He singled out Northern Lehigh School District on the program. “They did not take the federal money and put it into their basic funding formula. They haven’t laid anybody off, they haven’t cut any classes, they were – in my opinion – responsible in that.”
However, the PSBA’s Tom Gentzel stresses it was the legislature who put the federal money into schools’ regular appropriation. “So this wasn’t just a decision on the part of school districts… it was a part of the state funding for education,” Gentzel explains. He adds that school districts are feeling the pain beyond the basic education funding line item.
When including the federal stimulus money, basic education funding was trimmed by about $400-million dollars (though Governor Corbett was correct when he said the state’s share increased). The Accountability Block Grants, which fund full-day kindergarten programs, were cut by about $150-million dollars. Completely eliminated was the reimbursement of charter schools. That line item received more than $220-million dollars last year.