Governor Corbett Budget Address Today

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett-R will make his third budget address to the state legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 5.  He is expected to promote plans to privatize the state liquor store system, to further keep the state's budget balanced without raising taxes on the wealthy or Marcellus shale drilling.  He also may announce whether or not Pennsylvania will participate in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (you can see where all the state's stand on this in the map below).  This is all going on as he is suing the NCAA for sanctioning Penn State for it's role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal while at the same time being investigated by the current PA Attorney General for his own role in covering up the scandal while he was PA Attorney General.


Via: The Advisory Board Company 

To top it off he is engaging in hardball negotiations with the 14 state owned universities with about 100,000 students (including my Alma Mater IUP) faculty union (APSCUF) over their contract.  APSCUF voted to authorize a strike in December there is a discussion from the Rick Smith Show (They did reach the framework for an agreement today which must be voted on by the membership).  The website Raging Chicken Press has good coverage of this and other state issues.  The changes in public higher, primary, and secondary education should be just as alarming as efforts to resist creating a single payer plan.  The arguments for expanding Medicaid in PA are very similar to those for single payer.




Healthcare for All PA will be coming out with an economic impact study which will show how it will save individuals, large and small businesses, and municipalities a lot of money on healthcare while covering everyone.  Details are to come.

In Pennsylvania's 330 year history, no Governor has ever been voted out of office.  True PA Govs were only allowed to serve two terms since the 1960's but you get the point.   A new Quinnipiac poll suggests Corbett has a good chance at becoming the first with such a distinction with him having a 36% approval versus a 42% disapproval rating.  There is time for him to turn things around between now and November 2014 and the opposition will need to be organized.  He will have wealthy backers.  

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Supporting Firefighters/Rescuing Municipalities' Budgets

There are so many ways that the Family and Business Health Security Act, SB 400/ HB 2551,  will benefit municipalities, including the obvious one of significantly reducing the cost of health insurance premiums.  Boroughs, cities, school districts, and counties would also save on the cost of worker's compensation and auto medical liability coverage.  But here is a new area for savings that I just learned about.  Last year the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the Firefighter Cancer Prevention Act, designating cancer as an occupational disease for paid and volunteer firefighters.  These valiant first responders who serve at least 4 years would have 11.5 years after leaving the service to file a claim.  That is double the average window for other worker's compensation claims.  Some local municipalities are anticipating that the premiums for coverage of their firefighters will double.  For example, Penn Township's premium would increase from around $32,500 to $64,500.

No reasonable person would deny this worker's compensation coverage for firefighters who put their health and lives on the line for their communities, but people are also naturally anxious about any increase in local taxes, especially when state and federal budgets are limited and the economy is creaking along.  SB 400/ HB 2551 would at least eliminate the need for the firefighter's coverage to include medical care, a significant portion of worker's comp expense.  Of course, let's not forget that the bills would also provide tax credits for all volunteer first responders, supporting this vital service to the Commonwealth.