State government: August 2009 Archives

From the office of state Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover township

HARRISBURG - Rep. Seth Grove (R-Dover) will host a series of town hall meetings over the coming months to hear the concerns of residents of the 196th District.

"My primary duty as a state representative is to vote on behalf of the people of this district," said Grove. "These meetings offer an opportunity for citizens to express their concerns and voice their opinions. I consider that kind of direct interaction a necessity in our representative democracy, and I am looking forward to hearing what the people have to say."

Residents do not need to register in advance for the meetings, which are all scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on the following dates:

Thursday, Aug. 27: North Codorus Township Municipal Building, located at 1986 Stoverstown Road in Spring Grove.

Thursday, Sept. 3: Warrington Township Municipal Building, located at 3345 Rosstown Road in Wellsville.

Tuesday, Sept. 22: Heidelberg Township Municipal Building, located at 6424 York Road in Spring Grove.

Tuesday, Oct. 13: Jackson Township Municipal Building, located at 439 Roth's Church Road in Spring Grove.

Wednesday, Oct. 14: Dover Township Municipal Building, located at 2480 W. Canal Road in Dover.

Wednesday, Oct. 28: West Manchester Township Municipal Building, located at 380 East Berlin Road in York.

Thursday, Nov. 5: Paradise Township Municipal Building, located at 82 Beaver Creek Road in Abbottstown.

For more information about the town hall meetings or Pennsylvania state government, contact Grove's office at (717) 767-3947 or visit RepGrove.com.

This was originally how I was going to start this post ...

"Members of the state Senate, where Republicans have a majority, are going to try to override Gov. Ed Rendell's earlier vetoes to get parts of the state budget passed."

Yeah, that's an accurate and concise description of what's going to happen. But I wouldn't blame anyone for reading it and saying " What the ... huh?"

Short explanation: The budget for the new fiscal year still isn't passed seven weeks after it was due, because of an impasse between the Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg over state spending.

But all the underlying parliamentary moves and countermoves might be kind of confusing by now. Let's see if I can translate this into some approximation of coherent English.

In a rare instance of recent good news for state workers, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire issued the following statement (proclamation?) today. It's not a regular paycheck, but what the hell ... it's something.

I hope "Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I" doesn't end up in an impasse with Senate Republicans. Then again, I guess political disputes in her time were generally resolved by decapitation, so a lengthy budget standoff seems unlikely.

Anyway, here it is ...

I spoke to state Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-Hellam Township, tonight. He said he got an e-mail from his caucus leaders, calling for a meeting of the House Republicans tomorrow morning. They hinted that the Democrats who comprise a majority in the House and the Republicans who make up the majority in the Senate may have reached a compromise on the state budget.

If so, it's about freakin time. Approximately 77,000 state workers didn't get their paychecks on Friday because of the budget impasse.

I also spoke to state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-West Manchester. He said that even if they don't reach a budget compromise, the state lawmakers should come up with some kind of interim measure to pay state workers.

I agree whole-heartedly. Those 77,000 people and their families don't deserve to be pawns in a political game.

I just read that former state Senator Vince Fumo, who is preparing to serve 55 months in federal prison on corruption charges, will not get his $100,500 annual legislative pension.

Sorry. I have to stop typing this entry because it's too hard to see through the tears of sympathy that are welling in my eyes.