By Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa
On the ballot this year are three critical seats on the state Supreme Court, one seat each on the Superior and Commonwealth courts as well as county row offices and municipal posts which influence how citizens are judged or represented. These races are of statewide interest and local importance.
Despite the parochial nature of most municipal elections, there is a great likelihood that the election of state Supreme Court justices, Superior and Commonwealth Court judges and the contests for down-ballot offices this year will attract millions of dollars from outside interest groups and well-heeled out-of-state contributors. These “investors” believe that they can influence state policy with their checkbooks. Much of that funding will be either unreported or under-reported.
Pennsylvanians deserve better. Seats on the high court and other state courts, county offices and municipal offices should not be thought of as investment products. Voters should be wary of being swayed by outside influences and so-called “dark money.” Sadly, there is too much outside influencing of elections and voters are blinded by the money cloak that shades their knowledge of candidates. There is a better way.
I recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill 11) a measure that provides for campaign finance limitations, along with several other important reforms. The corrupting influence of money in politics is known objectively and anecdotally to most Pennsylvanians. Our citizens are not alone in thinking that too much money in politics corrupts. Nationally, according to a Gallup poll, 79 percent of Americans support limits on campaign fundraising.
This election season has reminded all of us of the need to clean up the campaign finance system and our campaign finance laws. We can do better than to hope that things get better. We must act and build fairness and equality in our electoral system by providing reforms for how candidates raise money and disclose shadowy donors.
The measure I introduced will put these stringent restrictions in place:
- Limit the expenditures and donations by and to a candidate, political action committee (PAC), political party or other person, for the purpose of influencing election;
- Require disclosure of super PAC donors;
- Require stockholder approval of expenditures on political activity.
Pennsylvania’s uncapped campaign finance rules, confounding Supreme Court decisions, and outside influence by national super PAC’s underscore what is wrong in our political system. Campaign expenses are increasing exponentially and driving elected officials and candidates to spend more and more time raising money instead of focusing on important issues or solving challenging problems. Fact is, in Pennsylvania’s most recent gubernatorial election, candidates spent a combined $82 million dollars. Races for the state Senate are frequently rising above the $2 million benchmark.
We must act soon to restore confidence in our electoral process and shield our citizens from a bombardment by outside dollars and outside contributors who have no interest in quality, responsive government. This can be accomplished by adopting tough, but fair, campaign finance reforms such as those prescribed in my legislation.
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Harrisburg – May 13, 2015 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said that the Senate Republican pension reform plan that passed the Senate today (Senate Bill 1) is illegal because it impacts benefits of current employees, is woefully short-sighted, and unfair to workers.
Costa challenged Senate Republicans in floor debate to reconcile well-established law with the proposal. He said that the plan would be immediately challenged in court, cause a litigation explosion and compel taxpayers to cover back benefits.
The Democratic leader said that the Republicans abused the process in rushing the measure to the Senate floor for a vote. Plus, he said that both Senate Democrats and Gov. Tom Wolf have offered responsible, constructive, constitutional proposals that would address high public pension costs reasonably.
Costa said the plan provided little relief even if the bill overcomes legal hurdles. The projected savings for the teachers’ retirement system would be $3.1 billion and $600 million for the state employees system.
He said the measure does not address the unfunded liability in the pension funds that spiked because Pennsylvania failed to make its actuarially required contribution for 17 years. Eighty-eight percent of current costs of the state worker and teacher retirement funds are to pay off the unfunded liability. The plan adds a cash-balance plan for new hires but uses contributions from new hires into the fund to pay retirement benefits for others.
Costa’s comments follow:
“Senate Democrats believe that there are responsible pension reform plans that protect taxpayers and provide reasonable benefits for workers but the Senate Republican plan does neither, plus it is unconstitutional. The Republican plan hurts current workers, devastates pension benefits for future employees and provides little in the way for relief for taxpayers.
“The plan puts new employees and future retirees into poverty and makes changes in public pension systems that are unreasonable. The process that was used to pass this plan was flawed and rushed and the plan itself falls woefully short of any reasonable tests of legality or fairness.”
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Contact: Stacey Witalec
Telephone: 717 877-2997
Email: switalec@pasenate.com
Harrisburg – May 13, 2015 – A leading group of Senate Democrats today wrote to the Public Employee Retirement Commission (PERC) to express grave concerns about the process surrounding Senate Bill 1, a massive overhaul of the pension system for public employees.
PERC itself raised red flags about the expedited legislative schedule, which rendered them unable to fully examine the proposal.
Milliman, the actuarial firm hired by the commission to review Senate Bill 1, included the following note in their analysis:
“Due to time constraints dictated by the Commission for providing this actuarial note, we are providing this letter without a complete review of all facets of the legislation nor all actuarial cost projection information used by the system actuaries in their analyses.”
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) joined with Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia), and Democratic Finance Chairman John Blake (D-Lackawanna) to call on PERC to use the authority granted to it to provide recommendations to the General Assembly to improve transparency and provide a timeline when considering legislation related to public pensions.
“Senate Republicans have abandoned the principals of an open and transparent government to ram through an illegal bill that could radically diminish retirement benefits for hundreds of thousands of state and school district workers,” said Sen. Costa. “We need to identify a better process than considering a 410-page bill with only 72 hours notice.”
The timeline for Senate Bill 1 has been extremely rushed, lawmaker said.
There was a hastily called Finance Committee meeting on Monday, May 11, where the bill passed along party lines. Senate Bill 1 was then considered by both PERC and the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 12.
“It now appears that this bill—which legal observers believe is unconstitutional and illegal—may be voted on final passage today,” said Sen. Hughes. “It’s simply unconscionable to consider something of this magnitude on such a fast timeline. When you have Milliman acknowledging problems with the process, that should be enough to stop the wheels of destruction from moving forward.”
PERC was created to ensure that lawmakers can make informed decisions about pension legislation. That is why Senate Democrats have called on the commission to make recommendations to the General Assembly on how to guarantee that future legislation is considered in a more transparent manner.
“We have an obligation to the public to fully consider all legislation, especially something as complicated as pension reform,” said Sen. Blake. “I hope that PERC will respond to our request and create a process worthy of the importance and consequences of any legislation affecting our public pension systems.”
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Contact: Stacey Witalec
Telephone: 717 877-2997
Email: switalec@pasenate.com
View Letter to PERC →
View Letter to Senate Republicans →
Harrisburg – May 12, 2015 – Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said today that he strongly supports legislation that legalizes the use of cannabis extracts to address certain medical conditions, including seizures, cancer, diabetes and chronic pain.
Costa released the following statement after today’s Senate vote. Senate Bill 3 passed the Senate by a vote of 40-7. The bill now goes to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
Sen. Costa’s comments:
“The legislation that legalizes the use of cannabis extracts to help those who are suffering from chronic pain, seizures, cancer, diabetes and other serious medical conditions is good news for patients, families and the medical community.
“For too long, patients and families dealt with pain and serious medical issues without being allowed to access medical cannabis to relieve suffering. Over the years, a litany of families, patients and medical personnel provided testimony about the usefulness of cannabis extracts as a means to relieve pain and anguish.
“The Medical Cannabis Act is a good, positive development that was crafted carefully to ensure that proper protections are in place and that the access is tightly regulated. The bill’s prime sponsors, Sens. Daylin Leach and Mike Folmer, have done a wonderful job in designing a measure that is balanced and responsible.
“With so many families-in-need waiting for relief for their loved ones through medical cannabis, today’s Senate vote is an encouraging step in the right direction. I look forward to the swift consideration and passage of this bill in the House.”
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Harrisburg – May 12, 2015 – After a recent series of accidents in construction zones, a bipartisan group of senators and state officials detailed legislation today that’s designed to protect workers in the zones.
Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) was joined by Sens. Judy Schwank (D-Berks), David Argall (R-Schuylkill), and Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington) in addition to PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission Chair Sean Logan to discuss how the measures will improve safety in the construction zones.
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The senators and state officials outlined their plan for increased penalties for those striking or killing highway employees and first responders in construction zones.
“Far too often vulnerable workers and first responders in construction zones are ignored by motorists focused on getting to their destination instead of heeding safety protocols,” Costa said. “We have to remember that these are not just employees reporting to work each day – they are somebody’s mother, father sibling or friend.
“They each deserve the opportunity to leave work as safely as they arrived.”
The bills offered by Costa and Bartolotta would increase fines and penalties by $1,000 for minor violations and $5,000 for more serious offenses involving highway workers or first responders, plus a six month drivers license suspension.
“Too many construction workers have been sent to the hospital in recent weeks and too many turnpike employees killed over the years by speed and distraction in work zones,” Logan said. “Motorists simply aren’t getting the message.
“The enforcement tools we have at our disposal today are not making enough of an impact.”
Bartolotta reflected on the impact of careless driving in many incidents and stressed the need for drivers to remain aware in their travels.
“We owe it to all of these workers and their families to do our part to protect them against reckless, irresponsible and distracted drivers,” she said.
With a focus on increased safety measures in work zones, legislation introduced by Schwank and Argall would provide speed cameras in active work zones on limited access highways.
“Families of the men and women who work to improve our roads can’t wonder if their moms or dads are going to return home from work every day,” Schwank said. “Drivers must know that if they go too fast through a construction zone they will be hit in the wallet with a stiff fine,” Schwank said.
“The recent tragedy on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bensalem reminds us that, as more state dollars are invested in improving our infrastructure, the problem facing our construction workers will only grow more dangerous,” Argall said.
Ensuring that work zones are safe places is a top priority for PennDOT, according to Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Leslie S. Richards.
“Since 1970, 85 PennDOT workers have been killed in the line of duty,” Richards said. “Our workers want to see their families at the end of their work days. Work zone safety awareness is essential, for your safety and ours.”
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HARRISBURG, April 9, 2015 – A bipartisan group of state legislators from western Pennsylvania released the following statement today in response to the announcement that UPMC does not intend to renew the Medicare Advantage contract with Highmark customers:
“UPMC has broken its promise to seniors in western Pennsylvania. They made a promise to our seniors, and now they are purposely using our seniors to create leverage against Highmark to gain an advantage in a financial dispute. Their actions are unconscionable. UPMC was warned by the Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner and Secretary of Health that such tactics would constitute a breach of the carefully crafted consent decree. They disregarded that finding and are now sticking it to our seniors. Totally unacceptable,” said Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny.
Rep. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver, said, “It’s truly unfortunate that the devious scare tactics and anti-patient behavior continue, this time at the expense of some of our most vulnerable citizens. UPMC is now threatening to hold hundreds of thousands of Highmark Medicare Advantage customers as hostages just to gain some legal standing. Rest assured, we will be monitoring this developing issue and will support our seniors in any way we can.”
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said, “The communities that I represent are tired of being held hostage by the actions of UPMC, which continues to engage in practices that clearly call into question its profit-driven motives and its status as purely public charity. The cancellation of the Medicare Advantage contract threatens to leave 180,000 seniors without access to their health care providers. I am committed to working with my colleagues and Governor Wolf to finally bring much-needed clarity and certainty to this dispute.”
Sen. Randy Vulakovich, R-Allegheny, said, “UPMC should quickly move to reinstate this contract so that seniors in Western Pennsylvania are not placed in the middle of this ugly, ongoing dispute. This behavior is totally unacceptable and has gone on far too long, causing mass confusion amongst my constituents and shedding a negative light on the region in general.”
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MEDIA CONTACTS:
Rep. Frankel: Ben Turner
717-787-7895, bturner@pahouse.net
Sen. Costa: Stacey Witalec
717-772-2368, switalec@pasenate.com
Sen. Vulakovich: Melissa Farabaugh
717-787-6538, mfarabaugh@pasen.gov
Rep. Christiana: Abbey Haslam
717-260-6222, ahaslam@pahousegop.com
