Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus Legislative Review


Friday, May 31, 2013

Roebuck: Fix School Funding Now

Pa. state Rep. James Roebuck talks about the urgent budget woes that school districts across the Commonwealth are facing right now. Rep. Roebuck believes a real public education funding formula will preserve quality education for all students. VISIT THE HOUSE DEMOCRATS' YOUTUBE PAGE TO WATCH MORE VIDEOS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS.

House Democratic Policy Committee examines condition of Pa. water and sewer infrastructure

The House Democratic Policy Committee heard from local officials and environmental experts at a public hearing May 30 regarding the condition of Pennsylvania’s water and sewer infrastructure, Chairman Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, said.

State Rep. Steve McCarter, D-Montgomery/Phila., requested the hearing and served as co-chairman. Testifiers provided their perspective and experience on the growing costs associated with Pennsylvania’s aging water and sewer lines, and storm water management.

“Replacing aging water and sewer infrastructure is creating difficulties for municipalities across Pennsylvania,” Sturla said. “The challenges of communities in the southeast region are indicative of those across the Commonwealth; I applaud Representative McCarter for seeking the input of his local leaders to learn how we can best assist them in overcoming their challenges.”

Democratic Policy Committee examines state budget education funding

The House Democratic Policy Committee heard from school administrators, parents and education policy experts at a public hearing May 29 in Delaware County on education funding in Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed 2013-14 state budget.

State Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware, requested the hearing and served as co-chairwoman. Legislators heard about the challenges faced by school administrators in managing recurring cuts to education funding for the past two years, and from policy experts on the overall impact of the repeated cuts on the state.

“The governor’s unrelenting cuts to basic education the last two years will have an impact on the commonwealth’s students for the rest of their lives,” said state Rep. Mike Sturla, chairman of the Policy Committee. “I applaud Representative Davidson for continuing to investigate the impact on her own community and for devising ways we can help meet the needs of students across the commonwealth.”

Haggerty urging face-to-face meetings between governor, DPW program stakeholders before cuts are enacted

In an effort to change how Pennsylvania state budget cuts are divvied among regional and local welfare services, state Rep. Kevin Haggerty is pushing reform that would require the governor and Department of Public Welfare officials to meet face to face with the stakeholders of such programs.

The need for such policy has risen from the alarming trend of budget cuts aimed at DPW since the great recession, said Haggerty, D-Lackawanna.

Expressly, community-based family centers have received more than a 48 percent cut in funding since 2010, while county health care clinics have seen funding diminished by 60 percent over the same period. State budgets enacted since 2009 have cut millions in critical DPW funding to county and local services.

McCarter, Roebuck unveil CLASS Act

State Rep. Steve McCarter, D-Montgomery/Phila., was joined May 23 by the Democratic chairman of the House Education Committee, Rep. James Roebuck, D-Phila., to announce a new charter school reform proposal, the Charter Learning Accountability School Sustainability Act, or CLASS. The CLASS Act is aimed at achieving greater academic accountability, funding equalization and transparency within the charter and cyber charter school system.

McCarter’s legislation would offer several key revisions to the current charter school law to provide much needed relief to local taxpayers by creating one statewide cyber charter school district to be administered by the state Department of Education. It is estimated that this component of the CLASS Act could eventually save school districts approximately $230 million to $250 million annually statewide.

A second component of McCarter’s plan would stipulate that students enrolled in charter schools and cyber charter schools with special needs receive the services they require by assigning responsibility to the local intermediate unit.

White introduces natural gas leaseholder and landowner protection bills

State Rep. Jesse White has introduced a trio of House bills to protect landowners who lease property to natural gas and oil drillers in Pennsylvania, and help others obtain mineral rights that may exist under their property but are deemed abandoned.

White, D-Washington/Allegheny/Beaver, said Pennsylvania currently has no reporting requirements or standards for royalty payments, and that his bills promote simple best practices designed to increase transparency and accountability to benefit residents who have signed or are looking to sign leases to develop oil and gas resources.

House Bill 1442 would require companies to clearly show on royalty check stubs, payment forms, or other remittance, details of the well's productivity and any deductions taken by the company, including the total amount of severance, production taxes or other deductions permitted under the lease.