Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Gov. Tom Corbett is calling for bold steps to address Pennsylvania's budget crisis
- GOVERNMENT
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Tuesday, February 5
By Eric Boehm | PA Independent HARRISBURG – Proposed pension reforms in Pennsylvania save about $175 million next year at a cost of billions in the long run. During his budget address on Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett called on lawmakers to pass his multi-level pension reform proposal with this year’s state budget. The plan would move new employees to a 401(k)-style pension system, would reduce future benefits for current employees and would reduce the state’s payments into the state’s two pension systems for the foreseeable future. Read reaction to Gov. Corbett's budget proposal: The first two parts of his plan are intended to save costs in the long run by cutting a small part of the state’s unfunded liability, while the third part would free …
Monday, February 4, 2013
The Pennsylvania House returns to session on Monday.
Here's this week's schedule for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Information has been supplied by Rep. Mike Turzai, Republican Majority Leader. Gov. Tom Corbett will present his 2013-14 state budget proposal during a Joint Session of the General Assembly on Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 11:30 a.m. Identified by bill number, the sponsors and summaries for bills scheduled to be considered in committee or on the House floor are posted below. More information regarding these bills can be found at PAHouseGOP.com by clicking on the “Research Bills” tab. Monday, February 4, 2013 Committee Meetings/Hearings STATE GOVERNMENT, 11 a.m., Room G-50, Irvis Office Building COMMERCE, 11:30 a.m., Room 205, Ryan Office Building ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND…
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Multiple sources say Philadelphia narcotics officer Gerald Gibson has been put on administrative leave.
Last updated 6:20 p.m. Multiple news outlets are reporting that the son-in-law of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Philadelphia Police. Sources tell NBC10 that Gerald Gibson, a narcotics officer, has been placed on administrative leave. Police reportedly issued a brief statement about an officer being removed from his duties after a joint investigation by the FBI and Internal Affairs. The officer was not reportedly identified and has not been arrested or charged with a crime. WPVI-TV (6 ABC) reported that Gibson was allegedly found in possession of marked money that was used during a police sting operation. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that according to its sources in…
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Gov. Tom Corbett will announce plans to privatize Pennsylvania's state store system
The big issue of whether to privatize Pennsylvania's liquor stores will take center stage today as Gov. Tom Corbett announces plans to sell them off. Corbett will call for liquor store licenses to be auctioned off, according to multiple sources. Sales of beer and wine could be opened up to various retailers including drug stores and big-box department stores. Related story: Pa.'s Prohibition Era May Finally End The Republican governor is expected to announce his plan at 2 p.m. Wednesday in Pittsburgh. This move comes on the heels of plans to privatize the PA Lottery -- another controversial move. Pennsylvania has about 620 state stores. Union groups have argued that more than 4,500 jobs will be lost if the state system is privatized, but …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Pennsylvania will join other GOP-led states putting the Affordable Care Act mandate back in federal hands.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Gov. Corbett announced on Wednesday that Pennsylvania will not be setting up its own healthcare exchanges as mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The responsibility for the exchange now falls back to the federal government. Corbett reportedly blamed federal authorities for the move, saying they didn't provide adequate answers to questions about how the exchange will be paid for and other details. See the pdf section for a letter the governor wrote to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius regarding the decision. "Health care reform is too important to be achieved through haphazard planning," Corbett said, according to the AP. "Pennsylvania taxpayers and …
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The governor was on a tour of heavily damaged areas of southeastern Pennsylvania.
- NEWS
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Thursday, November 1, 2012
Pa. Governor Tom Corbett visited Dresher on Wednesday as he toured sections of Pennsylvania most heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy earlier this week. CBS Philadelphia reported that Corbett stopped at the Dreshertown Plaza shopping center to view power restoration efforts. A Mississippi Power crew, among the many hundreds of workers called to the area by PECO in advance of the the storm's arrival, was reportedly fixing utility poles and downed power lines in the area. After leaving Upper Dublin, Corbett continued up Route 611 on to Bucks County, where he addressed residents and volunteers inside a Red Cross shelter at a high school in Nockmixon Township [Phila. Inquirer].
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday's deadline pushed back due to Hurricane Sandy.
Congratulations, there is a silver lining. Hurricane Sandy has pushed back the clocks, at least when it comes to the state's absentee voters. According to reports on philly.com, Gov. Tom Corbett has extended the deadline for Pennsylvania's absentee voters to get in their votes. Originally set for 5 p.m. Tuesday, the new timed deadline is now pushed back to Thursday at 5 p.m. Corbett gave voters each day back that the county offices were closed due to Hurricane Sandy. In order to file for an absentee vote, a voter must show up in person at the county's election offices. Those in Montgomery County should visit the County Courthouse in Norristown. The absentee application is available by clicking here. It will download as a pdf file, so you …
Monday, October 29, 2012
I-76 and I-476 are among the closed state roads Monday night.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, October 29, 2012
PennDOT announced Monday that several state highways, including I-95, I-476 and I-76, would be closed to all non-emergency vehicles until 2 a.m. Tuesday morning in response to Hurricane Sandy. Roads were closed per the order of Gov. Tom Corbett, say reports. According to a release, the transpiration department is closing "the full length of Interstates 95 and 676; I-476 (non-toll portion); I-76 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Passyunk Avenue and the U.S. Route 1 Extension in Philadelphia to all traffic except emergency vehicles" The Pennsylvania turnpike remains open. Before the closing, all area highways were placed under a 45 mph speed restriction. Additionally, NBC 10 is reporting that all Delaware River Port Authority bridges, the …
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Federal officials say the slow moving storm will cause problems over large part of the east coast through the middle of the week.
Federal officials warn residents to prepare for heavy winds, inland and coastal flooding and power outages from Hurricane Sandy. The storm, which is expected to come ashore somewhere along the east coast late Sunday into early Monday, is anticipated to affect 50-60 million people along the east coast, from the Carolinas to New England and extending west into West Virgina and the Ohio Valley. Flooding, for now, is the main focus of forecasters and federal disaster response agencies, according to Louis Uccellini, director the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center For Environmental Prediction. Uccellini said the "extent of heavy rainfall has a danger of flooding for Pennsylvania and Maryland and into northern Virginia. "Given…
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The Department of Education put three Norristown schools on its list of low-performing schools. The district says the state is working with outdated and limited info.
On Wednesday, July 25, the Pennsylvania Department of Education released it's list of low-acheiving schools (schools in the bottom 15% statewide) and three local schools were on the list – Norristown Area High School, Stewart Middle School and Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy. The designation makes it possible for students living in the boundaries of those schools to take advantage of the new Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (OSTCP) signed into law in July by Gov. Tom Corbett. The program gives low- and moderate-income students in low-achieving schools an option to apply for a scholarship to attend a participating public or private school. The low-achieving schools are determined based on student performance …
40.130061
-75.335578
Eisenhower Middle School
1601 Markley St, Norristown, PA
/articles/norristown-area-school-district-says-state-report-is-wrong
1265565
/locations/7536336
40.12519
-75.35783
Stewart Middle School
W Marshall St & Selma St, Norristown, PA
/articles/norristown-area-school-district-says-state-report-is-wrong
1265507
/locations/7536337
40.144454
-75.356987
Norristown Area High School
1900 Eagle Dr, Norristown, PA
/articles/norristown-area-school-district-says-state-report-is-wrong
1878793
/locations/7536338
Paul Roscoe
10:05 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Beginning around 1996, the private sector moved away from defined pension plans to Individual Retirement Accounts. However the public sector in Pennsylvania still continued with defined pension plans that were overly generous and unrealistic. Now we have a mess with public pension obligations eating away more of the Pennsylvania budget each year while hurting programs designed to help … more ›