Post-Gazette: Pennsylvania cigarettes will be safer

Here working in the State Capitol on July Fourth…

HARRISBURG — Cigarettes in Pennsylvania are due to get safer, under legislation approved by the Legislature.

House Bill 1612, introduced by Rep. Timothy J. Solobay, D-Washington, would require all cigarettes sold in Pennsylvania to be “fire safe.”

Low-ignition strength cigarettes are less likely to cause a fire if they are left unattended by careless smokers, said state Fire Commissioner Edward A. Mann, who praised the legislation.

Mr. Mann said, “Fire-safe cigarettes are rolled with bands of less porous, slow-burning paper, so if the cigarette is left unattended, it will go out when it burns down to one of those bands. There have been too many tragedies caused by the careless use of cigarettes, and this standard is designed to reduce that risk.” The bill was passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate and will be signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell, said spokesman Chuck Ardo.

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com.

I also contributed to this report on a stalled commercial dog kennel bill.

Photo courtesy of Germany Joys.

Post-Gazette: Democrats hate electric deregulation

HARRISBURG — Deregulation of electric rates in 2010 in many areas of the state could constitute “the biggest tax increase in Pennsylvania history,” state Senate Democrats said yesterday.

Since 1996, the rate at which many Pennsylvania energy companies have been able to recoup power plant construction costs from consumers has been capped.

But by 2010, the rate caps will expire for customers in parts of western Pennsylvania served by West Penn Power, plus many residential and business customers in northeast and central Pennsylvania, along with the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia areas. Rate caps for Duquesne Light already have ended.

“Nobody is going out of business” in the state’s electricity industry, said Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, noting high profit margins and well-salaried executive of electric utilities. “[Allowing these caps to expire] would be the biggest tax increase in the history of the Commonwealth since Ben Franklin.”

He was joined in his criticism by Democratic Sens. Jim Ferlo of Highland Park, Wayne Fontana of Brookline and Sean Logan of Monroeville.

“Utility shutoffs have already risen 37 percent compared to last year,” said Mr. Logan. “Unless we take decisive steps soon, I fear for how many people will be unable to pay and will have their electricity shut off when deregulation hits its statewide peak in 2010.”

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com. Read some of the color interjected by Sen. Vince Fumo here. Image courtesy of The Cobb School.

Post-Gazette: Towns to pay for state police

This as appearing in the July 2, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA).

HARRISBURG — Tax rates would quadruple in Westmoreland County’s Unity under proposed legislation that would require some municipalities to pay for their state police protection, a township supervisor said.

House Bill 2563, introduced by Rep. John E. Pallone, D-New Kensington, would require all communities with more than 10,000 people that don’t have a municipal law enforcement agency to either establish a local police force or pay an annual fee of $100 per resident for state police protection. There are 21 such towns in the state.

The Pallone bill would be “an unfunded mandate,” objected Unity Supervisor Jacob M. Blank.

To pay for state police coverage under the plan, Unity’s 21,000 residents would watch their municipal tax rates balloon by perhaps more than four times, Mr. Blank said.

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com.

Image of Westmoreland County, courtesy of Wikipedia. See the breaking news Web item I wrote on this story yesterday.

Post-Gazette: Municipalities to pay for state police under bill

Breaking news Web item for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, full story in tomorrow’s paper.

HARRISBURG – Municipalities with more than 10,000 residents that rely on state police for law enforcement would have to dig deeper into their pockets under legislation proposed today by two Democratic state legislators from Westmoreland County.

House Bill 2563, introduced by Rep. John E. Pallone, would require all communities with more than 10,000 people to either establish a local police force or pay an annual fee of $100 per resident for state police protection.

“This is a basic issue of safety,” Mr. Pallone said at a news conference. “State police are stretched way too thin.”

State police now provide police protection for hundreds of smaller towns around the state that don’t have their own municipal police forces.

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com. Image courtesy.

Post-Gazette: State's $28 billion budget agreement

This a double byline with Tom Barnes, as appearing in the July 1, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA).

HARRISBURG — Even though a handshake agreement was reached early yesterday on a new $28.2 billion state budget that calls for no tax increases, the House and Senate won’t take final action for several days.

Legislators’ goal is to vote by late Thursday, so they can be home on July Fourth for parades, picnics and politicking. Because it will take a couple of days to print and proofread the hundreds of pages of the document, and because the House sometimes waits for 24 hours before a final vote on bills, it’s unknown if the lawmakers will be back home Friday.

Another question is how many of the 100 amendments that House Republicans have prepared will be debated on the floor. Lengthy debate could delay final action by a day or more.

“People are hoping to have the budget all done by Thursday, so everyone can get out by July 4. It’s a heavy lift, but it can be done,” said Gary Tuma, spokesman for Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, one of the Senate budget negotiators.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2008-09 is 3.8 percent higher than the spending package for the just-ended fiscal year, an increase that is near the rate of inflation. That was important to Senate Republicans, who objected to Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s original budget of $28.3 billion, which would have increased state spending about 4.2 percent.

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com.

Photo of  House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene, right, and House Majority Whip Keith McCall, D-Carbon courtesy of Daylife.com from AP photographer Carolyn Kaster.

Post-Gazette: Environment, energy in budget deal

I contributed to this report by Bill Toland, as appeared in the July 1, 2008 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.This is part of a post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA).

Part of yesterday’s budget deal included a rough agreement to spend $650 million on environment- and energy-related programs, $500 million of which will come from new borrowing over two years.

From the pot of $500 million, $180 million will be spent on solar power — $100 million to help residents and businesses install solar power equipment, and $80 million for capital projects relating to recruiting solar energy companies and jobs.

An additional $165 million over two years is earmarked for alternative energy projects, distributed through the Commonwealth Financing Authority, an agency that administers a variety of economic stimulus packages. On top of that, $40 million goes to the Ben Franklin Technology Partnership (a risk-capital investor attached with the state); $25 million goes toward the construction of “green” buildings; and $25 million more goes to help coal companies reduce their mercury emissions.

Read the rest on Post-Gazette.com. Image courtesy of Forums.