Harrisburg – February 7, 2013 – Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate and House legislative leaders said today that they strongly oppose a Republican plan to make changes in the current Electoral College winner-take-all system that could reduce the state’s national electoral clout and unfairly swing elections to Republican presidential candidates.
State Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Rep. Frank Dermody, Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, said that no change should be made in the Electoral College system. A winner-take-all system is used in 48 states.
“The Republican plan for changing the system to one where the apportionment of electors is based on the proportional vote of each candidate would effectively end Pennsylvania’s importance as a swing state,” Costa said. “The proposed plan is a partisan scheme that diminishes the voice of Pennsylvania on the national stage.
“Gov. Corbett needs to quickly, and unequivocally, reject this attempt to destroy a system that has served Pennsylvania well.”
The senator said that Republicans floated the idea because President Obama carried the state in the last two General Elections and Democratic presidential candidates have won Pennsylvania repeatedly over the last generation. Meanwhile, there is no plan to split the vote proportionally in heavily Republican states such as Texas and Alabama, he said.
Dermody said that Republican governors in Ohio and Virginia have rejected these types of schemes as violating a basic sense of fairness, but Gov. Corbett has failed to categorically reject this assault on fair elections.
“Although Republicans are couching their proposals in the language of fairness, the motivation for changing the Electoral College is purely partisan,” Dermody (D-Allegheny) said. “The Republican Party lost in 2012 because they failed to appeal to the majority of voters in Pennsylvania.
“They know they can’t win on the issues, so they are resorting to underhanded tactics and undermining the principle that the candidate who obtains a majority of the votes should prevail.”
Dermody went further, saying that the Republican plan “is about rigging the game and diminishing Pennsylvania’s influence over who becomes our next president.”
Costa and Dermody called on Gov. Corbett to immediately declare his opposition to the proposal and pledge to work with both Republicans and Democrats to solve critical challenges such as job creation, education, transportation and repairing the social safety net.
“This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen national Republicans push Pennsylvania Republicans to make changes for partisan purposes,” Costa said. “Republicans tried to help their candidate last year in the presidential election by adopting a flawed voter ID law that caused legal action and confusion on Election Day.”
“In order to improve their chances in Pennsylvania, the national Republican Party should alter its extreme policy views rather than rigging the rules of elections,” Dermody said. “It makes no sense for Pennsylvania to arbitrarily reduce its considerable national political profile and relegate us to small state status.”
Pennsylvania has 20 electors that cast votes in the Electoral College.
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HARRISBURG, February 5, 2013 — Governor Corbett outlined his 2013-14 budget proposal today, which my colleagues and I view as a false choice plan for Pennsylvania. It does little to address the problems the commonwealth is facing and relies on shaky and faulty premises.
The plan presented today is disappointing — very long on politics but short on solutions. What we need from the Governor is leadership on job creation, transportation and education.
Senator Costa Comments on Governor’s 2013-2014 State Budget Address :: February 5, 2013
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Mark your calendars and join me for the first of many town hall meetings. We’ll be getting together to discuss your thoughts and concerns on issues affecting you and all of Pennsylvania. Numerous community organizations will also be in attendance to answer your questions or provide valuable information about their programs and services. I hope you’ll be able to join us.
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Harrisburg, January 30, 2013 — Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) and Senate Democratic Education Chair Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) today released statements expressing their opposition to Governor Tom Corbett’s plan to privatize and expand the sale of wine, spirits and malt beverages throughout the commonwealth.
“It seems this governor is attempting to privatize everything from the state lottery to liquor stores,” said Costa. “The privatization of the Lottery represents a significant expansion of gambling without legislative authority. Now this is an equally disturbing expansion of liquor sales which has the potential to directly impact the health and safety of our residents.”
“I have long maintained that we do not need to be privatizing the operations of the Liquor Control Board (LCB),” Costa continued. “What we do need to do is modernize and support the ability of the LCB to operate in an environment where they can be more productive and generate more dollars within a regulated structure.”
“As important, we need to make certain that in the dispensing of alcohol we recognize our obligation to be very careful and very safe,” Costa said. “The LCB’s employees are well-trained and have always done an exceptional job in following the law to the fullest and providing access to products only to those who are of age. There is no motive that would drive them to act otherwise.”
Costa expressed concern with Governor Corbett’s decision to use revenues generated from the sale of the wholesale and retail system to fund school programs. “If we place our focus on modernizing the system, we can use the revenues that are generated for supplementing school funds. We should not pit the future of our children’s education against the expansion of liquor.”
Expressing disappointment in the governor’s proposal and how he planned to use the funds from privatization, Senator Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) raised several important questions about the impact of the plan on education.
“While our school districts are in crisis, with poorer districts on the cliff of fiscal distress and other districts cutting education programs because of pension obligations, what does the governor do?” Dinniman asked. “Does he use LCB sale funds to help poor schools survive, provide pension spike relief or property tax relief?
“No, he uses the funds to create supplemental education programs in four areas, after he made severe and crippling cuts in basic education funding.”
Dinniman concluded that as a result of the governor’s plan, “liquor stores will pop up on one corner while schools are closing on the other.”
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Harrisburg — January 11, 2012 — Senate Democrats today released statements expressing dismay and disgust at the actions of the Corbett Administration in announcing the notice of award as it relates to the private management agreement, (PMA), for the Pennsylvania Lottery.
“This is extremely disappointing and disturbing,” said Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). “The action taken by the Corbett Administration was done without public input. Today’s decision has the potential to jeopardize senior programs and put taxpayers on the hook.”
“This has been a bizarre process that violates the public trust,” Costa continued. “There were no hearings, little opportunity to understand the proposed PMA and no scrutiny. The process was violated and the citizens of Pennsylvania were abused by this arbitrary action.”
Senator John Blake (D- Lackawanna), Democratic Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee pointed out the proposal needs legislative authorization and it demands legislative scrutiny.
“The process was culminated when the General Assembly was not in session and there was little public examination of the proposal,” Blake said. “This process wasn’t transparent — it was opaque. No one could see the end result except a small group of the governor’s inner circle.”
Expressing extreme disappointment on behalf of his constituents, Senator Rob Teplitz (D-Dauphin) said the use of a secretive process would lead to the privatization of a significant state asset and is unprecedented. “This is not a proper way to alter generations of public policy and violated the public trust.”
“On a personal level, many of the affected employees are my constituents and have been treated with complete disregard,” Teplitz said. “The arrogance of this administration in the way this was handled is deplorable.”
“I am extremely disappointed in this administration’s decision to jam this deal through at the last minute prior to a key Senate Finance Committee hearing,” said Senator Matt Smith (D-Allegheny). “This shows a disturbing lack of transparency by the Corbett administration and hinders a meaningful dialogue regarding this multi-billion dollar deal. The Camelot plan certainly deserves a proper examination by the General Assembly and Pennsylvania taxpayers are entitled to further information.”
Senator John Wozniak (D-Cambria) echoed the sentiments of his colleagues related to the PMA. “There are many questions related to how this privatization effort impacts seniors and property tax relief related to gaming. The concerns of taxpayers should have been taken into consideration and questions answered before the governor took this action.”
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Harrisburg, December 18, 2012 – Acknowledging the escalating problems in economically-challenged communities across the state, Pennsylvania Senate Democrats today discussed their plans to address a wide range of problems impacting aging and distressed cities.
The “Growth, Progress & Sustainability” or GPS plan focuses on developing new policies that foster cooperation while addressing and strengthening the core of distressed communities.
“The reality is instead of planning for growth and economic development, many cities are contemplating bankruptcy,” Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) said. “We could no longer stand back and watch while the rich heritage of Pennsylvania erodes amid shrinking tax revenues and tax bases.”
Costa said the intention of the plan is to help transform communities and bring some much needed light to the end of the tunnel.
“Pennsylvania needs a new road map to help our cities and our towns,” said Senator John Wozniak (D-Cambria). “Communities are struggling – from Scranton to Harrisburg and Reading to Johnstown and all places in between. Today we’re presenting the GPS plan to serve as a foundation to address the issues and transform our cities and communities.”
Senate Democrats are committed to working with local leaders to further develop the GPS plan which highlights broad areas of legislative interest. The areas the Senate Democrats outlined are including:
- Economic development
- Rebuilding the local tax base
- Urban blight
- Crime/Public Safety Initiatives
- Education & workforce development
- Modernizing and streamlining local government to reduce costs
- Act 47 and Local government Unit Debt Act
According to Senate Democrats, many of the identified communities continue to face huge obstacles as each attempts to provide government services at a time when tax revenues and tax bases are shrinking. They said that they recognize no solution can be effective or lasting without addressing each of the interconnected parts outlined in the plan and understanding how they affect residents.
“Revitalizing our urban areas and strengthening surrounding communities requires we assess and understand their struggles,” said Senator Judy Schwank (D-Berks). “Our focus needs to be squarely on quality of life for the families living in these areas. We owe it to them to ensure these issues are addressed and their needs met, as we move forward.”
Working with local governments, Senate Democrats acknowledged the need for vision, focus and commitment. This includes providing the tools communities need to help themselves before their circumstances become untenable, they said.
“We want public policy that is proactive, cooperative and supportive, not reactive, punitive and vindictive,” said Senator John Blake (D-Lackawanna). “We want to develop long-term, sustainable solutions that will enable these communities to rebuild and thrive.”
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