Bucks County Jobs

 
Weekly Job Requisitions for November 23 through 27, 2009 are now available online. To view, please go to:

http://www.buckscounty.org/government/departments/HumanResources/JobRequisitions.aspx.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09323/1014717-178.stm

Reform suddenly becomes a popular issue

Governor hopefuls trade barbs over election reforms

Thursday, November 19, 2009

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the wake of Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett's string of grand jury charges of election abuses, Democrats are lining up to portray themselves as champions of reform in Harrisburg.

Tom Knox, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman running for the Democratic nomination for governor, has proposed a series of fundraising and election reform measures. Yesterday, in the first policy statement of his campaign to carry the Democratic standard, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato offered his own ambitious package of reform proposals.

Even Gov. Rendell got into the act. In Harrisburg yesterday, he listed a series of election and fundraising changes that he said would be among the chief priorities of his final two years in office.

Mr. Knox and Mr. Onorato may hope to raise the tone in the capital, but that spirit of uplift did not extend to the campaign trail, as their rival proposals sparked an exchange of jibes from their campaign staffs over their respective reform credentials.

In an e-mail to supporters and a subsequent conference call with reporters, Mr. Knox said last week that he would counter what he characterized as the "pay-to-play" culture of Harrisburg with a contribution cap of $500 for anyone doing business with the state. He also said that anyone running for statewide office should resign any local or state office -- a restriction that would affect every current gubernatorial contender except for Mr. Knox and U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, one of Mr. Corbett's rivals for the GOP nomination.

Yesterday, in a speech to the Rotary Club in Downtown Pittsburgh, Mr. Onorato outlined an extensive blueprint for changes in election, lobbying and redistricting rules.

Mr. Onorato's wide-ranging proposals, some of which would require changes in the state constitution, included:

• Campaign finance limits based on the ceilings in federal law.

• Term limits of 12 years in either chamber of the Legislature -- meaning that it would be conceivable for one lawmaker to serve 12 years in the House and another 12 years in the Senate. There currently are no limits.

• An unspecified reduction of the size of the Legislature that would produce cost cuts of at least 20 percent.

• Establishment of a commission to insulate the congressional and legislative redistricting process from politics.

Mr. Onorato also said that he would push for a change in "the culture of Harrisburg," through new rules governing lawmakers and lobbyists. He would ask legislators to ax cherished perks such as per diem expense payments and all gifts from lobbyists. He would also eliminate WAMs, or walking around money, the special earmarks distributed by individual legislators.

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- Bloomberg.com

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=av4GNnOp._oI&utm_source=PA2010.com+First+Read+Opt-In+List&utm_campaign=3c8735e6df-The+First+Read+11%2F19&utm_medium=email

Pennsylvania Should Ban Municipal Derivatives, Official Says

By William Selway

Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Pennsylvania should ban local governments from entering into derivative contracts tied to bond issues, a practice amounting to “gambling” with taxpayer funds, state Auditor General Jack Wagner said.

Wagner made the call after an audit of the Bethlehem Area School District found that the district lost at least $10.2 million by entering into interest-rate swaps tied to variable- rate bonds. The Legislature explicitly legalized such trades in 2003.

“Quite simply, the use of swaps amounts to gambling with public money,” Wagner said. “The fundamental guiding principle in handling public funds is that they should never be exposed to the risk of financial loss. Swaps have no place in public financing and should be banned immediately.”

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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09322/1014267-454.stm

Rep. Rohrer announces candidacy for governor

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Promising smaller government and the elimination of school property taxes, state Rep. Sam Rohrer last night made a three-way fight of the race for the Republican nomination for governor.

The Berks County lawmaker, with a reputation as an economic and social conservative, declared his candidacy in a 40-minute speech and webcast from a volunteer fire hall in his district. In an earnest, at times quietly emotional voice, the veteran lawmaker denounced "atrocity in Washington," and the undermining of constitutional freedoms as he pledged to confront, "challenges unparalleled in the history of this commonwealth."

He said his administration would drive down spending and contain taxes on business as a means of restoring jobs.

"Spending more than we have has occurred under both parties and for a long time," he said.

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Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09321/1014020-454.stm

Bid to cancel Pa. officials' next COLA

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- When is an increase in salary not a pay raise? When it's a cost-of-living adjustment.

In 2005, state legislators raised a statewide uproar when they voted themselves raises of 16 to 33 percent, along with raises for state judges and some members of Gov. Ed Rendell's administration. The Legislature later canceled its own raises and those for the executive branch, but the Supreme Court upheld the judicial raises.

However, under a 1995 law, state officials continue to get cost-of-living adjustments every Dec. 1. The salary increases are based on the rise in the Consumer Price Index (the inflation rate) during the previous 12 months in the Philadelphia area, and that usually works out to 3 or 4 percent.

Because of this COLA law, a rank-and-file lawmaker's annual salary has risen from $69,647 in 2005 to $72,187 in 2006, to $73,614 in 2007, to $76,163 in 2008, to $78,300 in 2009. With a 3 percent increase on Dec. 1, it would go above $80,000.

State Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-Bucks, is trying to prevent that with a bill she introduced yesterday.

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- PennLive.com

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/125823930534720.xml&coll=1

A not-so-proud history

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Here is a list of Pennsylvania politicians convicted of, charged with, or suspected of political wrongdoing.

1906: Architect Joseph M. Huston is one of 14 men indicted for fraud in a scandal over furnishing the state Capitol, which is dedicated that year. Huston is found guilty and spends six months in prison.

Others convicted of fraud are chief interior furnishing contractor John H. Sanderson, former state Treasurer William L. Mathues, superintendent of public grounds and buildings James Shumaker, Auditor General William P. Snyder and Pennsylvania Construction Co. official and former U.S. Rep. H. Burd Cassel.

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State says Perzel used 'dirty tricks' on GOP, too | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/15/2009

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20091115_State_says_Perzel_used__dirty_tricks__on_GOP__too.html

State says Perzel used 'dirty tricks' on GOP, too

He is accused of punishing rebel House Republicans with tax-funded tactics.

By Amy Worden

Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - State Rep. Curt Schroder of Chester County wasn't worried about the Republican primary in spring 2006. He was running unopposed. All he needed to do was get enough voters to sign his nominating petitions.

But in February - around the time his petitions were due - Schroder's constituents began receiving peculiar telephone calls.

The calls were automated. A voice told voters not to sign the petitions because Schroder "opposed property-tax reform," the legislator said Friday.

Schroder had an idea of who was behind the mystery calls. But he wasn't sure until last week, when a grand jury concluded that John M. Perzel, then the House speaker, had ordered the calls to punish Schroder for not siding with Perzel on the property-tax issue.

During his decade occupying the two highest positions in the House, Perzel, 59, of Northeast Philadelphia, was known for wielding his power to win elections and protect GOP incumbents.

But he also used his political muscle against fellow Republicans, such as Schroder, who he felt had strayed from the party line - and used taxpayer money to do it, according to a grand jury's presentment.

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