As May becomes June, we again approach that time when the fans can become a bit restless. They’d like to see more scoring and more victories. There’s concern about the competition. Are we talking about the Pirates or Phillies? No, we’re talking about the Corbett administration, the subject of several stories recently quoting mostly unnamed Republican fans as expressing disappointment that the GOP agenda hasn’t been moving forward as well as had been hoped.
The team made a move, dealing Chief of Staff Bill Ward to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, presumably for a player to be named later. He’ll be replaced in the middle of the lineup by General Counsel Steve Aichele. But as Daily News political columnist John Baer pointed out, shuffling a lineup is nothing new.
Sen. Daylin Leach, ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, stepped in with some rhetorical chin music regarding the transaction. And in other baseball news, the aforementioned Pirates and Phillies both ended the month at or above .500.
Speaking of filling out the lineup, there’s a growing list of players panting for the opportunity to fill the 40th District state Senate seat recently vacated by Jane Orie after her conviction on elections law violations. Maybe it’s a sign of how bad unemployment really is in southwestern Pennsylvania when seven Republicans and at least one Democrat have announced an interest is filling her unexpired term via an Aug. 7 special election. With a lame-duck session already ruled out, the unexpired term will consist of fewer than one dozen legislative session days and no likely votes close enough to threaten the Republicans’ nine-vote majority in the Senate.
Senate Majority Skipper Dominic Pileggi announced he is introducing legislation that would transform public employees’ current defined benefits pension plans into a defined contributions plan for newbies. Because the state can’t change the benefits for existing employees, any cost savings would be years away.
And now for a bit of inside baseball: Senator Pileggi and House Majority Leader Mike Turzai told Capitol reporters this week that a budget agreement could come as early as next week. Now, dear readers, be forewarned if you are somewhat new to the process: a handshake agreement next week is not final. There is a need for at least an additional fist bump, a high five and probably two or three booty bumps before a budget can pass both houses and be sent to the governor for his signature. Still, the promise of a pre-June 30 budget settlement looks brighter and brighter.
The likely result of proposed budget cuts in basic and higher education (the state’s equivalent of “player development”) will be larger class sizes, fewer teachers and reduced program offerings, according to a survey released this week by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officers.
In other sports news, the nation’s largest independent arms retailer – that’s Wal-Mart to those of you who don’t have a permit to carry – dropped its support this week for the beleaguered American Legislative Exchange Council (better known as ALEC) because of the turmoil over ALEC’s not-so-secret role in promoting pro-gun legislation nationwide. Now we know that, secretly, most of our readers shop at Wal-Mart, too. We just hope that none of you have made the Pennsylvania page at PeopleofWalmart.com.
If you’re instinctively competitive like us, your chest may swell with pride when you learn that Pennsylvania leads the league in tax collections from casinos, and by a country mile. According to the latest numbers released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the American Gaming Association, the $1.5 billion Pennsylvania collected from 10 casinos is 2011 was more than all the casino taxes collected by Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware combined.
We brought up gaming in order to share a video with you that we missed from last week. First off, you gotta give credit to the folks who run the Harrah’s racino in Chester, PA. They figured out that if the big airport located between Philadelphia and Chester is known as Philadelphia International Airport, there’s no reason their casino couldn’t pick up some of the glam by renaming itself Harrah’s Philadelphia. But then, to prove that Chester is more than just a name, they commemorated the event with a ribbon cutting and food-eating exhibition. VIEWER ADVISORY: Those with a weak stomach may want to avoid the video seen here http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/05/12/news/doc4fadc9cc7223d371753667.txt
This week on Triadvocate, we feature lots of good video from state Rep. Mike Hanna talking about the impending state budget for fiscal 2012-13. We also want to give a shout out to Rep. Hanna who, shortly after talking with us, dropped by his favorite medical center to have some surgery to improve blood flow. We hope he will be back jogging and in good cheer soon.
Also on Triadvocate, Sen. Vince Hughes discussed transportation funding and financially distressed schools.
Well, sports fans, that’s a wrap from your friends at Triad Central, where we are always guided by the old baseball axiom that good pitching stops good hitting. And vice versa. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and we’ll see you in this space again next week!
The Triadvocate is a publication of Triad Strategies, LLC, a bipartisan lobbying, public affairs, strategic communications, grassroots advocacy, issue management consulting firm located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh
