A New State Senate Resource

The Pennsylvania State Senate is really stepping up to the plate. The Journals are being published faster -- they are up to January 17th now, just a few weeks behind. But the big news is that votes are posted daily. On the state senate's website, roll call vote are available day by day, and today's has been posted as well. I am impressed and salue the senate for these improvements in tranparency and public information. House, take note!

PA Legislation Cuts Out the Fat

The University of Baltimore has done a study on state legisation and policy aimed at curbing child obesity. Pennsylvania scores fairly well. We currently rank 21 in obesity prevalence and get an overall B in state efforts to control obesity. We rank 28 in childhood obesity prevalence but get an A in state efforts to control childhood overweight prevalence.

For the full report and all the pretty graphics go to: http://www.ubalt.edu/experts/obesity/

September House Journals Amended Post

Note: Yesterday I posted an earlier version of this but realized I had made an error, missing one of the days the House was in session. This post is intended to replace the flawed one yesterday.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives was in full session for three days in September. As I promised I would do at the start of the fall session I am reporting mentions of legislative leaves and leaves of absence.

In reviewing the house journals I look in particular for discussion of issues. My apologies for any errors or misrepresentations. Page numbers refer to the page of the pdf files available on the state house’s website.

Sept. 25th (22 p.), leave of absence for Rep. Steil, Armstrong, and Stetler

Sept. 26th (14 p.) leaves for Rep. B. Smith (returns), TAylor, Rieger, Belardi, Civera (returns), Bishop, and Lancaster.
On pages 9 through 11 there is a discussion of homicides and police in Philadelphia

Sept. 27th (13 p.) leave of absence for Reps. Hennessey (returns), Maitland (returns), Nichol, Taylor, and Rieger. Leaves of absence for Lagrotta, Armstrong, Rooney. Legislative leave for Pallone
On pages. 9-10 there is discussion on the FAA sending more traffic for the Philadelphia Airport over Delaware County.

September House Journals

NOTE: This post is in error. The House met for three days. An amended posting is being published on Jan. 31 to correct this one.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives was in full session for two days in September. As I promised I would do at the start of the fall session I am reporting mentions of legislative leaves and leaves of absence.

In reviewing the house journals I look in particular for discussion of issues. My apologies for any errors or misrepresentations. Page numbers refer to the page of the pdf files available on the state house’s website.

Sept. 25th (22 p.), leave of absence for Rep. Steil, Cruz, Tangretti Rieger and Belardi. Legislative leave for Argall, Armstrong, Grucela and Stetler

Sept. 26th (13 p.) leave of absence for Reps. Hennessey (returns), Maitland (returns), Nichol, Taylor, and Rieger. Leaves of absence for Lagrotta, Armstrong, Rooney. Legislative leave for Pallone
On pages. 9-10 there is discussion on the FAA sending more traffic for the Philadelphia Airport over Delaware County.

October Senate Journals

The Pennsylvania State Senate met in full session for five days in October. Journals are available for Oct 3 (18 p.), Oct 4 (12 p.), Oct 16 (30 p.), Oct 17 (18 p.), and Oct. 18 (21 p.). The Journal for the 18th indicated that the senate would return on Oct. 23rd but no journal has been released for that day, although the journal for Jan. 2, 2007 has been released so either they are going out of order or the senate did not meet again between Oct 18th and Jan 2nd. If other Oct issues are released I will write an addendum.

In reviewing the senate journals I look in particular for discussion of issues and also note senators who are away on legislative leave or have been granted a leave of absence. My apologies for any errors or misrepresentations. Page numbers refer to the page of the pdf files available on the state senate’s website.

Oct 3, legislative leave for Sen. Armstrong (returns later) and Sen. Conti
Part of the journal is devoted to memorials to the late Mayor O’Connor of Pittsburgh. Later Sen. Fumo gives a statement on Iraq. Sen. Hughes, perhaps inspired by Sen. Fumo, presents a brief life history of a young man murdered in Philadelphia.

Oct 4, legislative leave for Sen. Fumo, a leave of absence for Sen. Conti. The leaves for Sens. Armstrong and Conti are canceled. Try as I might I could not find a leave granted to Sen. Armstrong
Sen. Hughes presents a brief life history of another young man murdered.

Oct. 16, leave of absence for Sen. Rhoads. Legislative leave for Sens. Punt, Washington, Wozniak (returns), O’Pake and Musto.
Sen. Hughes again presents a brief life history a young woman murdered

Oct. 17 Legislative leave for Sens. Rhoades (returns), Hughes, Washington and Tartaglione
Sen. Fumo gives another speech on Iraq

Oct. 18 Legislative leaves for Sen. Madigan (returns), Washingon, D. White, Tomlinson, Lemmond, and Punt
On pages 14 and 15 there is a discussion on a bill that calls for charging a booking fee for someone convicted of a crime, as a way of financing centralized booking systems.

Carrie Budoff's First Politico Article

Carrie Budoff, who covered the Bob Casey / Rick Santorum race for the Philadelphia Inquirer, recently left the city to write for Politico, an online / print hybrid in DC. I've been watching for her byline and noticed it this evening. If I missed an earlier article, I apologize.

Check out "New Fear: Being 'George Allen-ed'"

State Rep Rick Taylor Hosts Open House

State Rep. Rick Taylor, from Montgomery County's 151st state house district, will host a grand opening of his constituent service office in Horsham from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9. The office is at 701 Horsham Road, Suite 101 .

It will be a "working open house" and staff will be available for constituent service, to assist with forms and paperwork for state programs, and so on. Taylor says he is also eager to hear from voters in his district. Refreshments will be available.

A Brief Note on Bucks County Commissioners

It has been twenty years since Bucks County elected a new county commissioner. While it’s true that the three county commissioners face re-election every four years, all of the men and women who have taken office since 1987 were initially appointed, not elected. They have been re-elected every time they ran, but all were initially appointed. Current commissioner Charley Martin was appointed in 1995 to fill out Andy Warren’s term when Warren resigned to take a position at PennDOT. Warren was initially elected in 1979. Current commissioner Jim Cawley was appointed in 2004 to fill out Mike Fitzpatrick’s term when Fitzpatrick resigned after being elected to Congress. Fitzpatrick was appointed in 1994 to fill out Mark Schweiker’s term when Schweiker was elected lieutenant governor. Schweiker had been initially elected in 1987. Current commissioner Sandy Miller was appointed in 1991 to fill out Lucille Trench’s term when Trench resigned to join the Crime Victims Compensation Board. Miller and Trench are the only Democrats mentioned here. Miller is the niece of former county commissioner Adolph A. Andrews who was in office in the later 1960’s and early 1970’s, and she is now the longest serving commissioner in Bucks County history.

If you look at the numbers, though, you will see that all of the commissioners who initially took office since 1987 were appointed. The last commissioner who joined the board by election was Mark Schweiker, in 1987. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything; I just noticed it and thought it was interesting. The Bucks County commissioners race doesn’t show much sign of liveliness at the moment but I’ve heard rumblings that things might heat up. We’ll have to see.

Sources:

“Best in Bucks: Fitzpatrick and Miller offer ideas and leadership,” Philadelphia Inquirer 11/03/1995

Callaway, Brian, “Democrats hopeful of ’07 victory in Bucks,” Morning Call 12/08/2006

“Mark Schweiker,” Pennsylvania Governors Past to Present, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Scheid, Brian, “Count commissioner sets a record,” Bucks County Courier Times, 7/12/2006

Stark, Karl, “New commissioner draws on experience,” Philadelphia Inquirer 3/28/1991

Legislators Forum with Curry, Shapiro, Taylor, and Washington

This past Thursday (Jan. 25th) I attended a Legislative Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters (Abington/Cheltenham/Jenkintown) and the Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce at the Abington Township building. This was one of my favorite type of events – a number of candidates or officials attended, it was free, and it was just off a main drag so I could find it.

These are my rough notes. In some places I just have a list of things they discussed. As always, I apologize for any misinterpretations or errors.

Legislators attending from the Pennsylvania House and Senate:

Rep. Larry Curry (D-154)
Rep. Josh Shapiro (D-153)
Rep. Rick Taylor (D-151)
Sen. Leanna Washington (D-04)

The format involved each legislator answering four questions that had been distributed in advance. In some cases the questions provided background information or statistics. If I did not include this data there is an “abridged” note on the question. The audience could submit questions on provided 3x5 cards which would be vetted for duplication, sense, etc. Some personal observations are given at the end.

Q1:The current system for drawing legislative and congressional districts has been described as a system by which representatives select their voters rather than one in which voters select their representatives. For any changes to take effect in time for redistricting after the 2010 census, the process for making the required changes in the Pennsylvania constitution must being in the 2007-08 legislative session. Would you support amending the PA constitution to create a nonpartisan independent redistrict in commission to redraw district lines? How do you think such a commission should be selected? What criteria should it use to draw district lines?

JS: Thanks sponsors and others and the township for hosting. This is one of many reforms needed. It is an exciting and necessary process. Supports a nonpartisan committee. Should be selected from a large pool of retired judges, political science professors, etc., with members randomly selected from this pool. District lines. Should be compact and concise. Respect municipal boundaries, one person one vote, equal number of voters in districts.

LC: [shows a map of the 13th congressional district] We need a commission to do congressional districts. There is a commission for PA House and Senate districts. One man one vote, keep minority communities together, keep communities together, some political input is okay

RT: Thanks emccc and lwv. Congratulates JS on being named deputy speaker of the house. Nothing more important than one person one vote. His district is very diverse. Upper Dublin has four state representatives. Try to make the process as nonpartisan as possible.

LW: Thanks lwv. important that minority votes protected. Nonpartisan bureau. Don’t draw lines to protect incumbents.

Q2: [abridged] Do you think voter verifiable paper audit trails should be required for all voting systems in Pennsylvania? Would you support measures recommended by the governor’s bipartisan Election Reform Task Force to remove barriers to voting including “no excuse necessary” absentee voting and extension of the deadline for returning absentee ballots? Data on voter turnout show greater participation in states that allow Election Day registration. Would you support legislation to allow citizens to register and vote on Election Day?

LC: Paper trail. Signed onto Rep. Dan Frankel’s bill in last legislative session. Even a paper trail may not be sufficient. After Ohio presidential voting problems he is ready to go back to paper ballots only, but can’t get away from computers. Absentee – okay. Need a way to get emergency absentee ballots. At present you can’t get an absentee ballot after the Friday before the Tuesday election. Registration to vote on election day – could support but must use a provisional ballot to avoid voting in a number of places. Also something to be said for the responsibility of the electorate.

JS: yes, yes, and yes. Co-sponsor with Curry on legislation for a paper trail. Absentee – make it easier for people to vote. Yes on registration but more [missed this], more poll workers, something similar to a provisional ballot

RT: Agree with LC and JS. Encourage people to vote. Need a paper trail. In 2004 he was called out of the country on business at the last minute, could not vote.

LW: paper trail and have an independent agency. Thanks voters.

Q3: [abridged] Will you give health care reform a high priority in the new legislative session?

LW: Over a million Pennsylvanians don’t have health insurance. Asked senate to form a commission to study the problem. Waiting list to get into CHIP and Adult BASIC [state programs]. Need for universal care. LW has worked for this since being in the senate. None of the panel has seen the governor’s proposal

LC: went to governor’s briefing on new proposal. Mentions problem of hospital infections. Underutilization of facilities. Do advance planning.

JS: clearly #1 priority in upcoming session. Business costs going into health care not back into the business. [something about companies with fewer than 50 employees]. The governors proposal would cost $130 or $140 per month per employee. Make sure people live healthier. Smoking ban. The governor’s proposal will require 47 bills.

RT: Such an important issue. Health care costs killing businesses. Excited about the governor’s proposal. 47 bills, difficult to pull together. Currently costs $227 per person or $681 per family to cover the costs of the uninsured.

Q4: [abridged] Do you support a dedicated source of funding for public transit in Pennsylvania? How should it be funded?

RT: Absolutely. Dedicated funding is very important. Pennsylvania sees public transportation as important but never put money in it. Loss of federal funding and block grants, stop gap measures. Transportation Reform Commission report – must restructure performance and funding. Streamline funding. Instead of municipal funding have funding system. Look at sales tax and personal income tax as funding sources.

LW: Served on House Transportation Committee. Need to also look at bridges and high volume traveled roads. Dedicated funding for mass transit. Requested Senate Transportation committee to continue working in the issue

LC: 30 years ago as a commissioner worked on this. Don’t put a tax on cigarettes because if people stop smoking we lose revenue. Must sell public transit as important to areas that do not depend on it it.

JS: $760 million shortfall on mass transit funding for state. PA the only state with a major metropolitan transit system without dedicated funding. Must go to the state every year to ask for money. Doesn’t believe in raising taxes. Lease turnpike, invest the money in a low risk account, use revenue to fund mass transit, roads and bridge.

Questions from the audience

Q: lawsuit abuse, money going to lawyers not plantiffs, tort reform

JS: stem frivolous lawsuits but protect workers, etc. supported Fair Share Act – if 20% at fault, pay 20%, if 80% at fault, pay 80%. Also protect businesses and doctors.

LW: frivolous lawsuit issue important but also look at victims

LC: At the governor’s health care briefing the governor said take care of other things first, ease burden on doctors. LC introduced an amendment to have a commission [committee?] review cases before going to court. The PA Health Association didn’t like it.

Q: malpractice attorneys and HMOs making money but doctors leaving the state

LW: tough issues. We are paying attention but a tough issue

Q: municipal / local police able to use rader?

LC: experimental program. 7 community police departments will have radar for 2 years. Volunteered Cheltenham and hopes they are one of departments chosen for the experiment.

JS: supports. Hears a lot about speeding through neighborhoods. Got a grant ($10K?) to help police stop speeding. Traffic tickets not intended to raise revenue

RT: State roads use radar. Local roads don’t. Supports local use.

Q: reduce gun violence

LW: 2 pieces of legislation introduced last year. 1 gun / month / buyer (so married couples could buy two a month). People from other states come here to buy guns. Also 1 handgun / month for 1st class cities [this would be Philadelphia], but other cities can buy in. Controlling guns not the complete answer but part of it.

LC: member of Dwight Evans’ gun control caucus. NRA and others misreading the 2nd amendment

JS: mentions the Inquirer’s homicide counter. Kudos to LW for her work. 16, 18 year old kids, drop outs not taught right and wrong. Why do they think it is okay to shoot? Where did that thought process start? Must stop it. Abington police have DARE program in elementary schools. Youth aid panels, CAPT [Citizens and Police Together], PAL [Police Athletic League] help along with parents. Anger = guns = killing. Try to make sure they don’t have guns. Enforce gun laws. #1 responsibility legislature is to make sure the homeland and homes are safe.

Q: Because of state restrictions on increases of school budgets, some schools may be forced to cut things like art and music

JS: dollars and cents, pay teachers, schools funded, onerous federal mandates. When Gov. Rendell took office, the state paid an average of $0.30 per child, it is now $0.45, but in Abington the state only pays $0.12 per child. Most of Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware counties in a similar situation. He is working to make it more equitable. The rest of the money is coming from higher property taxes.

LC: Arts already being cut in some Philadelphia charter schools. PSSA – teaching to the test. Federal funding for special education is only 12% of what is needed. Growing cost.

Q: Statewide restaurant smoking ban

LW: supports PA being a smoke free state. People have a right to smoke in their own home.

LC: support

Q: Given the link between libraries and lifelong learning, do you support full funding for libraries?

JS: yes

LW: yes

RT: Libraries made a difference in his life, but still trying to learn the state budget
Q: lower greenhouse emissions

JS: legislation to catalog greenhouse gas emissions. Higher auto emission standards in PA. reduce mercury. Where gasses are coming from in PA.

RT: co-sponsored this legislation. Also improve at home. Walkable communities, public transit, biking, hiking

LC: co-sponsor of this bill, too. Both Gov. Rendell and Sec. McGinty worked on the mercury issue.

Q: legislative reforms

LW: Senate doesn’t have proxy [ghost] voting. New young leadership in the senate, GOP, but must work together

JS: co-chair of reform commission, LC also on commission. Do away with proxy voting. Let public see legislation before legislators vote on it. Empower rank and file legislators. Will offer new House rules in March.

RT: Ran on openness and transparency

LW: Discussion in Senate on reforms also

LC: David Steil wants to lesson control of Rules committee.

Q: lobbying and lobbyist budget disclosure

JS: passed into law in last session

Q: Democratic majority in house House but a Republican speaker

JS: [provides a history of how this happened. Blogger’s synopsis – D’s could not get enough votes on a D so Bill DeWeese, leading Democrat stepped aside and JS suggested Dennis O’Brien, a Republican representative from Philadelphia who did get elected]

LW: applauds JS for the job he did. A force to be watched

Closing statements

RT: Taking care of families. Affordable college. Property tax relief. Taking care of elderly parents. Environment.

LC: Early childhood education for kids with disabilities. Insurance for certain diseases. Transportation. Crime and violence

JS: Thanks everyone and LW for kind words. Able to come together, Republicans and Democrats, to accomplish things. Build bridges and bring people together. Tackle problems.

LW: Chair of Youth and Aging committee. Nurses, certified nursing assistants, nursing care facilities. Transportation. Wants to hear from voters.

Personal observations: I have seen all of these legislators speak at least one other time but this may have been the best performance that I have heard for all of them. Certainly Shapiro seemed very comfortable and statesmanlike. Of all four he seemed most knowledgeable on the issues. However, Shapiro saying he will be brief is like Rendell saying he will be on time; don’t count on it. The moderator prodded the timekeeper more than once to keep Shapiro within time limits. Fortunately Shapiro is informative and not simply long-winded. He provides good background and context for issues and situations. Taylor has only been in office for three weeks. He did not try to pretend experience he doesn’t have, but did speak up on issues and situations he had immediate knowledge of. Curry was referred to as the “dean” of the group. Washington is in her first full term in the senate. She won a special election to fill the remainder of Allyson Schwartz’s term when Schwartz was elected to the Congress. They all seemed genuinely pleased to be there and sincere in wanting to answer questions from the electorate.

Many thanks to the sponsoring organizations and the elected officials for having this type of event.

July House Journals

All issues of the Pennsylvania State House Journals for July have been released. The full House was in session on three days, July 1 (92 p.), July 2 (22 p.), and July 5 (3 p.). The issues for the 2nd and the 5th had no extensive discussion in them. The 92 pages of print for July 1 consisted primarily of the text of lengthy bills and amendments. However, there were a few interesting or noteworthy discussions therein. The pages numbers referenced are for the pdf versions available on the state house website (see link above) and not the printed page numbers.

pages 8-9 cost of cigarettes
pages 34-26 cost of prescription drugs
pages 42-28 architectural plans, construction regulations, and a brief discussion of the meanings of the words "may" and "shall"
pages 49-53 taxes in Philadelphia. noteworthy quote from Rep. Cohen on p. 51: "I remain unthrilled by the idea of socking people who drive through Philadelphia with more costs."
pages 72-73 tax code and business tax relief
pages 88-92 lobbying reform, some interesting statements but you should read that section yourself. Note where one of the representatives blames the difficulty of passing this legislation on the senate.

I will confess to not understanding much of what is presented. It jumps around a lot. These are just the things that stood out to me.

NARAL Annual Dinner

From the inbox:

NARAL held it's annual dinner this evening. The program featured speakers Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) representing the class of 2006.

weekly legislative update

Again, I'm a day early but the legislature is in recess until January 29th so I know there won't be any activity tomorrow, unless its another one of those items passed months ago and only now being announced. The Pennsylvania state legislature was in session a few days this week but no bills were passed. The senate shuffled a few off to committee. The senate also introduced and adopted a resolution naming next week Catholic Schools Week. There is a note attached saying see Senate Journal for remarks. I would love to, but the last issue of the Senate Journal that has been released is Oct. 18th. I think it would be wonderful if the rest of October would be released so I could write up the October Senate Journals post. The Senate often runs a few months behind so unless we can all try to remember, in late March, to look at the January 23rd issue for the remarks on Catholic Schools Week, those remarks will have been said solely for the benefit of those on the Senate floor or the visitors' gallery that day. And, of course, reproduced for any relevant campaign literature.

Even so, they are doing a much better job that the Pennsylvania House, whose Journals normally run SIX MONTHS behind. Have I complained about this before? I think I have. Every time I see a note on a House bill or resolution that says "see remarks in House Journal" it comes to mind that half a year will probably pass before I will see those remarks. They are doing a little better recently. The three issues for July were just released, as was the issue for Sept. 25th (there were apparently none in between). I will try to have the July House Journal post for you this weekend or early next week.

Even More on PA House Legislative Reform

Those intrepid chairs of the Pennsylvania House bipartisan committee on legislative reform say they are sincere in wanting citizen input. They’ve even set up an email for us to send our suggestions to: reform (at) pahouse.net. Remember, don’t ramble, send concrete ideas, and be nice. We want to encourage this sort of thing.

Were that not enough both chairs, Josh Shapiro of Montgomery County (D-153) and David Steil of Bucks County (R-31) will be on the PCN Call-In Show on Tuesday, Jan. 29. It airs live at 7:00 p.m. and is usually re-broadcast a number of times throughout the next few days, as well as posted on the PCN site so you can watch it online a day or so later. I plan to watch one of the re-broadcasts (in my house adults don’t get control of the tv until 9) and take notes. Hopefully there will be time to clean them up a bit before posting. But if you want to call in and ask questions you have to do so during the 7 p.m. live broadcast. Phone number on the PCN website, www.pcntv.com.

What is a County Controller?

Every four years those of us in the suburbs vote for county row offices and, by and large, we have no idea what these offices are or what the people in them do. In an effort to understand these offices myself, and also to present that information to interested readers, I will be looking at selected county row offices, how they are described in Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, who holds those offices and if they are up for re-election this year.

Let's start with the county controller. Before looking at the job description, let me add that the county controller in all three counties has another job elsewhere, so it is likely that the controller's position is considered part-time.

In Bucks County, we find this general description on the county's website:

An elected row officer, the controller is the chief financial officer and chief auditor. He exercises general supervision and control over the county's financial affairs. He is authorized to examine the accounts and official acts of all officers or other persons who collect, receive, or disperse the county's money. The controller sits on the retirement board, salary board and prison oversight board. He is the final, independent check on the fiscal activities of the executive and legislative branches of county government as well as the independently elected officers and courts.

The Bucks County controller's office has a fuller description.

Delaware County's controller description is lengthy and detailed. If the topic interests you, please read through it. It includes a broad description, "responsible for overseeing and controlling the expenditure of county funds, ..." and goes into detail, including maintaining travel expense reimbursement records, develop and maintain time and leave reports for all employees, operate and maintain a central payroll system, conduct audits, timely payment of bills, encumbering of funds, retirement board duties, and petty cash funds. It is, of the three counties, the most specific.

Montgomery County's controller has, perhaps, the most general job description. In it's entirety it reads:

The Controller has general supervision over all fiscal affairs of the County and of the accounts of all officers collecting or disbursing County Funds. This includes maintaining payroll records of all Country employees and approving the payment of all invoices charged against the County, except those fees of jurors, witnesses, court criers and tipstaves. Complete records are maintained by the Controller's office detailing all fiscal operations of the County. In addition, the Controller conducts independent audits of County departments, Row Offices, tax collectors and hotels which generate fees and interest monies to the County government. The office maintains all accounting records for the Employees Retirement Fund and acts as a liaison between the County and the investment advisors for the Retirement Fund investment portfolio. The Controller is a member of the Salary Board, Depository Board, Investments Board and is Secretary of Employees' Retirement Board.

To me that sounds like a full-time job, but what do I know.

Currently, the controllers for all three counties are Republicans. Bucks County Controller Raymond F. McHugh is an attorney. Delaware County controller Cynthia Felzer Leitzell is a certified public accountant. Montgomery County controller Eric Kretschman (I could not find a bio on the county website so the link on his name goes to the county GOP bio) is a partner and vice president of acquisitions at a real estate and acquisitions firm. His educational background is in political science.

Only Montgomery County's Eric Kretschman is up for re-election this year.

SOTU and 2 links

Like perhaps many of you I watched the State of the Union address this evening. Atrios made it much easier by posting the text of the president’s speech at 9:01 so I could read along as he spoke. People who are far more knowledgeable and informed than I am will be talking and writing about this for days if not weeks and I encourage you to pay attention to them; I have little to say about it. The things that caught my eye were that Sen. Barack Obama was sitting in front of Sen. Hillary Clinton and I think that was Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. next to her. Sens. John McCain and Arlen Specter were sitting near each other. Was it just me or did Condoleezza Rice look like she was doing an impression of Snoopy doing an impression of a vulture? As a personal note it was great to see Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sitting behind the president.

For your amusement until blog posts resume tomorrow night I offer these two items:

The Politico, at www.politico.com, has been officially launched. If you want to follow the congress, the presidential race, DC political gossip, and the like, give it a looksee.

PoliticsPA has the text of Jonathan Newman’s testimony before the PA Senate’s Law and Justice Committee. Interesting stuff.

George Ballard for President?

You've heard that Hillary Clinton has announced, Bill Richardson has announced, Barack Obama is exploring the possibility. But have you heard of George Ballard? I ran across him recently; he was working the public location I happened to be. He says he is running for president, as a Democrat. He ran in 2004, too. Not familiar with him? He didn't do so well last time around, even in his home state of New Jersey. So far he doesn't have a website, and he doesn't google well so it is hard finding out anything about him. We had a lively discussion about a number of things; his speciality seems to be economics. He thinks the country is ready for an African American president but that it will be him and not Obama. I think Obama might be a little ahead of him in fundraising, but if Ballard wants to tilt at windmills, I say more power to him.

Legislative Reform Commission Members

From today's issue of the ever-informative Capitol Ideas, we find this:

New state House Speaker Dennis O'Brien, R-Philadelphia, has named his 24-member (got that? 24 freaking members.) of his Legislative Reform Commission. Here are the candidates for gridlock, by party.
For the GOP: Reps. David Argall, Kerry Benninghoff, Jim Cox, Craig Dally, Glen Grell, Jerry Nailor, Brad Roae, Sam Rohrer, Carole Rubley, Curt Schroder, David Steil and Michael Vereb.
For the Democrats: Reps. Mark Cohen, Bob Freeman, Tim Mahoney, Kathy Manderino, Phyllis Mundy, Chris Sainato, Josh Shapiro, Tom Tangretti, W. Curtis Thomas, Greg Vitali, Don Walko and Jewell Williams.
Shapiro and Steil will chair the commission.
Let the cat-herding begin.

So if one of these reps is yours, send your suggestions directly to him or her.

A Clash of Titans?

The Montgomery County commissioners race could be the suburban political fight of the year. Bruce Castor, county District Attorney, has already announced his intention to run against the incumbent Republican commissioners in the primary. Now Democrats are trying to persuade former county commissioner and former congressionman Joe Hoeffel to join incumbent Democratic commissioner Ruth Damsker on the ballot. According to today's Inquirer ("Two Big Names in Montco May Vie," by Tom Infield):

"I have been telling them no, but I've been talking to them because they're friends of mine," Hoeffel said. "My position is I'm not running, but I don't want to speculate."

PA in the WSJ

Here again are the PA-related or otherwise interesting stories that jumped out at me from this week's Wall Street Journals. This isn't intended as a complete list, only those items I noticed.

PA Businesses

Uh-oh, Philadelphia’s Pepper Hamilton law firm plays center stage in the article entitled “Suit Alleges Big Law Firm Let a Ponzi Scheme Unfold,” by Paul Davies (1/18). This is the sort of publicity no one wants.

PA Politicians

Democrat John Murtha (PA-12) is in the news again. The last paragraph of “Groundwork for a War Debate,” by David Rogers (1/17) starts with this:

Thus, Rep. John Murtha (D, Pa.) who will manage the Iraq spending bill this spring, is convinced he can get bipartisan support even as he proposes to add restrictions that could impede the planned deployment of four more Army combat infantry brigades into Iraq. And rather than cutting into funds, lawmakers could add more money to defense bills, but then attach readiness requirements that must be met for it to be used.

It is only a mention but “Health-Insurance Gap Surges as Political Issue,” by Deborah Solomon and David Wessel (1/19) includes this sentence “On Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s governor became the latest to offer a way for cover the uninsured in his state.“

Other PA

I don’t normally read the letters section but Friday, the 18th, featured letters from two Pennsylvanians.

In the Saturday/Sunday issues (1/19) we find an article by Laura Meckler entitled “The High Price of Keeping Dad Alive” that recounts the story of a family in Cheltenham (Montgomery Co). A son donates half his liver to his father as one of a growing number of “living donors.” This is not a decision I think any young adult should have to make.

Non-PA but interesting

“An Immigration Raid Aids Blacks – For a Time,” by Even Perez and Corey Dade (1/17). This is an interesting look at what happened to the poultry processing plants (or at least one of them) that lost a large percentage of their workers after an IMS raid last September.

Off Topic: Renewing an Old Acquaintance

Tonight I sat down with an old friend I hadn’t seen in a couple of decades or more, the Laundromat. This evening I checked to see if the clothes needed more time in the dryer and found them still very damp. I pushed the “start” button and nothing happened. Tried it again. Nothing. Checked to make sure the door was closed, and the regular things you’d do in this situation. Nothing. So Mr. J got out the flashlight and our household appliances repair book and I took the wet sheets and socks and headed out for the local laundry. Unfortunately the closest one was closed so I hit the main drag and headed south. A few miles down the road I found another one that was open later. For the first four years of our married life Mr. J and I spent most Sunday afternoons with a roll of quarters and some reading or homework, listening to the hum and rumble of industrial strength washers and dryers. The elderly attendant loved us, well, Mr. J anyway. On the rare times when he wasn’t with me she always asked about him and told me how good he was to me. I hate to think what she told him on the rare times when I wasn’t there. I have happy memories of those Sunday afternoons. We could (and did) wash every item of clothing we owned in 2 or 3 loads. Somehow the addition of small people to our household has geometrically increased the amount of laundry.

So, into the Laundromat I went, with a full clothesbasket and a pocketful of quarters. There were a few other people there plus the attendant but it wasn’t as lively as I thought it might be on a Saturday night in an area with a lot of twenty-somethings living there. Aren’t laundries supposed to be pickup spots these days? Prices had gone up but not as much as I expected and I overpaid for time on the dryer. Forty minutes later I was back home. Mr. J might be able to fix our current dryer but chances are, given that it was in the house when we bought it 13 years ago, it will have to be replaced, and that will probably require an electrician. There are a number of factors that make this situation an inconvenience as opposed to a disaster. We have the money for a new dryer and the electrician if needed, as well as some flexibility in work schedules to be home for deliveries and so on. We had done most of the laundry for the household already. Maybe another half hour stop at the Laundromat tomorrow. We have a working vehicle so while the laundry within walking distance was closed I could easily get to another one. We keep a separate change basket for quarters so it was easy to come up with a few dollars worth. It is a two parent household so I didn’t have to take the kids with me or scrounge emergency child care. We have extra sheet sets so it wasn’t absolutely necessary that things be dried tonight. There are two or three neighbors we are certain would let us use their dryer if we wanted to, but that gets tricky because I’d need to monopolize it for several hours over a week.

Were I a single parent or if we didn’t have a car or some savings or any number other things, this would be devastating. It is important for those of us with numerous cushions in life to recognize this and think of how things are for those without. It is those personal safety nets that keep some afloat while others sink and having them is more luck than all of us would like to believe.