Jack Mundie's Attempt To Financially Cripple Hazleton



As last night's Hazleton City Council meeting Sam Galski reports that Councilman Jack Mundie proposed extending the rebate period for Hazleton property owners to pay their tax bill to the City. Despite his twelve year tenure as a councilman Mr. Mundie tried to replace the taxing ordinance with a resolution, something not allowed under the law.  His obvious pandering to the property owners of Hazleton met with credible resistance.  His fellow council members exposed his "playing up to the public" for political gain.

Most property owners have their tax money placed in escrow waiting to be dispersed to the proper taxing bodies. His suggestion would only injure the City of Hazleton who saved taxpayers by not seeking a tax anticipation note for 2012 or 2013.  The City also saved taxpayers money on mailing costs by incorporating the city tax bill with Luzerne County.  Mr. Mundie's proposal would negate those savings thereby necessitating another tax increase on the people.

Mr. Mundie's political vendetta against Mayor Joseph Yannuzzi and other City Council members is reaching new lows. Mr. Mundie voted "NO" on paying Hazleton's debt at the beginning of the year. He voted "NO" on the property tax increase necessary to replace lost revenue from the mine reclammation project. He voted "NO" on collecting the correct earned income taxes from out of town employees working in the City that would fund the City's pension obligations. He told residents to fight parking tickets at the Magistrate level to deprive Hazleton of its income.

Mr. Mundie opined that Hazleton should hire someone to negotiate union contracts for the City.

"I just want to know, shouldn't we have somebody with experience negotiate with the unions," Mundie asked. "If they thought they did a good job negotiating, health insurance (contributions are) $20 per month and we're getting a 24-percent (overall cost) increase."

From the Minutes of 1-25-2012

Resolution 2012-19 Authorizing the City of Hazleton to Utilize the Services of Special Legal Labor Counsel on an As-Needed Basis Presented by Perry. Seconded by Cabell.

On the Question:

Mundie asked Lieb if she knows what the hourly rate is for this service. Lieb said all the rates are listed in the letter from Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn, which was given to Council. Lieb said a partner of the firm charges $250.00 per hour, with a 10% courtesy discount, and half of the travel time involved. Lieb commented that this firm is located in Kingston. Mayor Yannuzzi said we are able to go to Attorney Goldberg with questions, personnel issues, to negotiate contracts, etc., because this is his specialty. Lieb said he is a labor attorney.

Roll Call: Bast-yes; Cabell-yes; Mope-no; Mundie-no; Perry-yes

His policitally motivated attacks and votes are part of Mr. Mundie's orchestrated campaign to financially cripple the City of Hazleton just as he did to the Hazleton City Authority in the 90's.

Despite proclammations that he would put together a budget for the City he contributed nothing in the process.  He told City Council to pass the budget so he could make amendments.  That never happened.

During the budget debate of 2009 then Mayor Barletta had this to say about Mr. Mundie's "NO" votes. 

Speaking in the general direction of council, Barletta said, "Anybody can vote 'no.' That's easy. Why vote 'no' if you have no better ideas. Everyone who voted 'no' is being very irresponsible. I hope you're satisfied. Good job."

House of Greed- State of Despair

Newspaper after newspaper are giving a thumbs down to the on-time delivery of the Pennsylvania General Fund budget. Much to the chagrin of our illustreous solons the media is not taking the bait to pat them on the back for a job well done.

The Philadelphia Inquirer assessment. Pennsylvania's state budget meets the deadline... but it's still one ugly baby

Opinion in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Faux budget: Hey, Harrisburg, your work's not done

Assessment of the budget by Pennlive.com Pennsylvania budget: What it means to you

Editorial that appeared in the Times-Shamrock publications. Lawmakers pass sacrifice to others New budget contains many cuts in service

It is painfully obvious that many legislators are going to have a tough re-election battle come this fall. It is evident that the Democratic party attacking the Repulicans over fiscal conservancy will surely cost them dearly. But the Repulicans are not without blame over the lack of cuts in the legislative budget. Per diems, per diems, per diems. That is a message Harrisburg will hear loud and clear.

It in unconscionable that a legislator making a minimum of $78,314.00 per year demands another $163.00 TAX FREE PER DAY to perform his or her work. Don't let any legislator fool you. Eachus keeps saying what he takes is legal. It's only legal because he gets to make the rules. Its like saying you think a hole in golf "shouldn't be PAR 4 I'll change it to PAR 8".

The unaccountable expense account, fully paid healthcare, dental, eye, vision, too generous pension, car allowance, and telephone provisions plus franking privileges will not be tolerated in a 10 plus percent unemployment environment well into its second year.

To thumb their nose at constituents will go down in history as a period in Pennsylvania government when the legislature finally subcombed to a culture of greed. Not all legislators are greedy but those that aren't need to step up to the plate with a voice much louder than what we are hearing from the House Majority Leader.

Mr. Eachus allowed the power of the leadership to haze his understanding of the needs of those he represents. Families are affected directly by his decisions and votes. He ignores that possiblity when he tries to attack his opponents. He quickly forgets what he did to the people of the 116th who once supported him. Well, come November, he will be reminded.

He can't be Majority Leader unless he gets re-elected. Of course from the ramblings in Harrisburg his tenure will be cut short anyway if he is. His bully style of leadership, the same way he deals with certain constituents, has a short leash of toleration.

Pennsylvania will earn the nickname "State of Despair" unless its leaders or those who should be leaders step forward and do the right thing. Don't tell us you eliminated wasteful spending, DO IT!

Pennsylvania's Budget Is A Political Document Meant For Incumbent Protection

As you will hear in the Youtube video below Rep. Matt Gabler states that WAM money is back in the Pennsylvania budget. Yet, from Eachus's office Brett Marcy this comment back on May 09, 2010.

"We have worked hard to trim costs and find ways to improve efficiencies," said Brett Marcy, press secretary to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne.

His boss had this comment reported in the Citizen's Voice today concerning the passing of the budget.

The budget is responsible and frugal yet provides funding to help education and economic development, said House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township.

The cuts hit programs big and small but not the legislative budget.

While a $23 million homeless assistance program might face a $189,000 reduction during an economic recession, only $58,000 was squeezed from $5.8 million in expense accounts for state Senate and House members in the proposed 2010-11 budget.

While 600 libraries statewide will likely be forced to swallow a $5.5 million reduction in a $60 million state subsidy for operations, the $20.7 million in state House "special leadership accounts" will have to deal with $206,000 less in funding.

And while there will be $500,000 less in emergency mortgage assistance for people who have lost their jobs - at a time when the state unemployment rate is 9.1 percent and the local unemployment rate is 10.3 percent - the General Assembly reduced its $10.8 million budget for "incident expenses" by only $109,000.

Overall, the budget to operate the General Assembly increased by $1.3 million, from $299 million to $300.3 million.

Here's what the Grand Jury investigating Bonusgate had to say about those special leadership accounts.

Among other reforms, the grand jury said the Legislature should:
— Eliminate, or at least make more transparent, the special leadership accounts that give House leaders millions of dollars in discretionary spending to control.

Eachus just can't give up his bad spending habits.

What Budget???

The Capitol Building in Harrisburg should be renamed the Spin Machine building.

From the Commonwealth Foundation:

Pennsylvania Education Spending

•Pennsylvania's education spending increased from $4 billion in 1980 to over $25 billion in 2009-a 133% increase in per-pupil spending (from $6,171 to $14,420, in 2010 dollars).
•Since 2000, enrollment has decreased by 26,960 while schools have hired 32,937 more staff members.
•School district fund reserves are almost eight times the amount of Gov. Rendell's proposed $354 million increase in state subsidies.

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania identifies opportunities to cut over $4 billion in wasteful state spending in Gov. Rendell's proposed FY 2010-11 budget. The report also offers a series of recommendations for resolving the current revenue shortfall and reducing the size and burden of government on Pennsylvanians.

State government consumption and spending of taxpayer money have grown dramatically in recent years. Since 1970, Pennsylvania's total operating budget has increased from $4.2 billion to $65.9 billion, an inflation-adjusted increase of over 167%.[1] As a share of state personal income, Pennsylvania's operating budget rose from 8.8% in FY 1970-71 to an estimated 13.2% in FY 2009-10-an increase of more than 51%.[2]

The effect of this tax-borrow-and-spend agenda has not produced the promised economic revitalization, but stagnation. During Ed Rendell's tenure as governor, Pennsylvania ranks 32nd, 41st, and 39th in job, personal income, and population growth, respectively, among the 50 states.[3]

On October 9, 2009, after an unprecedented 101-day delay, the Pennsylvania General Assembly approved, and Governor Ed Rendell signed, a $27.8 billion General Fund Budget for FY 2009-2010. A revenue shortfall has since emerged, and politicians will be scrambling to fill a multi-billion dollar budget gap with rising pension contributions and the disappearance of federal "stimulus" dollars on the horizon. Against Commonwealth Foundation recommendations, the FY 2009-10 budget exhausted the state's "Rainy Day" fund and other one-time revenue sources. A Taxpayer's Budget 2010 offers budgetary and public policy alternatives to deal with this fiscal crisis.

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010 identifies wasteful and unnecessary programs in the state budget and off-budget agencies and offers recommendations for improving government services and reforming the budget process for greater efficiency. Our recommendations are organized into three sections:

•Eliminate Wasteful Spending: A Taxpayers Budget 2010 identifies $4.13 billion in spending cuts - $1.00 billion from the state General Fund Budget, $2.21 billion from other operating funds, and $926 million from the capital budget and off-budget programs.

•Adopt Market-Based Delivery of Government Services: Spending on public education, benefits for state workers, and Medicaid is growing far beyond taxpayers' ability to pay. By adopting market-based reforms in the delivery of services, state government can not only reduce costs, but improve quality.

•Adopt Spending and Budgetary Transparency Reforms: Transparency in government spending and instituting performance-based budgeting would help identify and eliminate wasteful expenditures, as shown in other states.
Before imposing tax increases on working Pennsylvanians and job creators, Harrisburg policymakers need to prioritize spending, justify all $66 billion in state spending, and cut waste from state government.

Pennsylvania ran up a $3 billion loan to the U.S. government that will need to be repaid back starting the end of this year according to this article by LARA BRENCKLE of The Patriot-News.

The submitted budget document relies on $850 million coming from the federal government for Medical Assistance that has not been passed by Congress or the Senate yet.

Pileggi warned that even if a new budget is approved by the deadline, a state revenue deficit in the range of $4 billion to $5 billion will await the new governor-elected in November

Finally the fiscal bill that must accompany the budget that spells out where the revenues will come from that are delineated in the budget has not been passed. Legislators will tell you that budget is in place

In recent days, House and Senate leaders expressed a determination to enact a on-time budget for the first time during Mr. Rendell's tenure. But this feat will likely be accomplished by leaving action on the fiscal bill, which is normally part of the budget package until later in the week. The fiscal bill is important because it spells out where the revenues originate. The agreement doesn't provide for a tax on smokeless tobacco and cigars or a hike in the state cigarette tax, as Mr. Rendell had sought.

It's like writing checks out of a checkbook but not calling the bank to find out if the funds are there or not. This budget is nothing but a political document so incumbents can make a "claim" they got it done on time. In reality it is a misrepresentation of a failed effort to meet their obligation and the duties of their office. Inflated figures, bogus income, and maintenance of per diems don't qualify Rendell to call this a "conservative" budget.

The Budget -Another Day Closer And Deeper In Debt

It's another year in the life of Pennsylvania and it's the same old song. We won't have a budget passed on time. Lack of leadership to reach across the aisle and convince all to do what is right for Pennsylvania seems to be a character flaw in Harrisburg. In today's Times Leader Andrew Seder informs us that meeting a deadline imposed by Harrisburg lawmkers upon themselves is nearly impossible at this point. Gov. Rendell's legacy will point to a record of never getting a budget passed on time during his tenure.

With the November election five months away and with voter anger still simmering from last year’s 101-day budget impasse, state legislators are trying to balance the fine line of fiscal responsibility and political expediency as they try to approve a state budget before Wednesday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline.

That deadline, said some local legislators, will not be made. But there’s no way the stalemate will last 101 days and probably not even 10 days.

If these solons were employed in the private sector and missed their deadline year after year there would be so many pink slips issued with justification. Maybe the voters should keep that in mind come November.

Speaking of lack of leadership House Majority Leader Todd Eachus must have a problem facing the public or a severe case of political laryngitis. In this article he had David Georges, a campaign spokesperson, speak for him. In this article which appeared in the Allentown Call June 17th about the budget Brett Marcy responded as spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus. If Eachus could talk for himself he could save taxpayers alot of money. It seems almost a flagrant abuse of power that a campaign spokesperson would be responding to a legislative issue when there is a legislative staff specifically hired to do just that.

To make my point read the Times Leader article. Rep. John Yudichak who will go on to be a Pennsylvania Senator this November,(yes I am calling it now) doesn't hide behind spokespeople. It points to the reason Yudichak won his primary so handily. He's a hands on people person. Mr. Eachus is the type who talks down to his constituents, that is when he is willing to face them one on one.

Karen Boback is quoted in the article, heck even Senator Bob Mellow was out front and center.

But the coup de tat behind the scenes is the fact that when the stimulus money disappears Pennsylvania's budget will be between $4 billion to 5 billion in the hole according to Senator Dominic Pileggi. Unless spending is decreased taxes are going to rise for all of us.

The Democratic leadership politicians in Harrisburg have to get serious about decreasing spending. With the impending pension funding crisis upon us it is time for their culture to change and in a severe way. Taxpayers can no longer support a legislative staff that is only there for political purposes.

Roxbury News Eachus And Evans Speak On Budget

Click on Roxbury News to hear Eachus and Evans discuss their hour long meeting with Republicans over the PA budget. Hear their carefully couched words, more taxes equals a "menu of options". Isn't it funny how House Majority Leader Todd Eachus stands behind Rep. Dwight Evans and Rep. Keith McCall. Guess he needs them to block for him.

Rendell Loses In Money Shuffle- Taxpayers Will Pay The Consequence

In a feeble attempt to balance the budget the Legislature along with Governor Rendell raided the physician malpractice premium subsidy fund, MCare, to the tune of $800 million this year. The fund is used to subsidize premiums especially for high risk physicians to keep them from leaving Pennsylvania. MCare began in 2003 when premiums surged by double-digit percentages annually, although they have stabilized in recent years.

Rendell wanted to use the money to expand a state health insurance program for uninsured adults. Rendell issued a press release in 2008 annnouncing the assault on the Health Care Provider Retention Account to fund the "Cover All Pennsylvanians" initiative.

Pennsylvania's physician and hospitals sued the state over the diverted monies put in the General Fund. Commonwealth Court issued an order requiring Pennsylvania to return the $800 million to the malpractice premium subsidy fund.

The order will cause chaos in an out of control spending Legislature in Harrisburg. It will only add to the taxpayers' burden over a 50% pension grab by greedy solons.

Pennsylvania's Budget Woes and Todd Eachus's Promise?

At the Hazleton Chamber of Commerce's most recent Red Carpet Breakfast House Majority Leader Todd Eachus was the main speaker. Jim Dino reported on the event for the Standard Speaker.

In his address Mr. Eachus made the following claim.

"We are projecting a $500,000 shortfall in the 2010-11 budget," Eachus said to a Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast audience at Capriotti's in Tresckow. "There is an $800,000 medical assistance payment due from the federal government. If that is paid, we will be within range of our two-year budget planning process."

Eachus said the state was faced with a $3.2 billion budget shortfall. He said Senate Bill 850 attempted to remedy the problem by cutting several items out of the budget.

"But we could not simply cut our way out of the $3.2 billion budget hole," Eachus said. "We had to cut spending, but also add new revenues, and transfer money from other funds. We protected the integrity of state programs that help children, seniors and other vulnerable citizens."

So spending was cut by $1.75 billion, and another $1.6 billion in fund transfers was achieved. Eachus said the state managed to identify $1.2 billion in new revenues, including a tax on small cigars.

"We managed to approve a tax on small cigars, but other cigars and smokeless tobacco is still not taxed in Pennsylvania," he said.

Other new revenue streams are expected from the introduction of table games at Pennsylvania's casinos, as well as taxes on oil and natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale in northeastern and north central Pennsylvania.

One has to wonder whether Mr. Eachus checked in with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue lately. Their figures show Pennsylvania is $477 million behind in revenues for 2009-2010 according to a report filed by the Commonwealth Foundation.

Pennsylvania Deficit Watch | March 2010

The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue reports that through the end of February, state General Fund revenues are $477 million below estimate for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

•Tax collections have been below estimate in all eight months of the fiscal year, and down month-over-month from last year for every month except October, which included $1.8 billion in transfers from other funds and one-time revenue sources.
•The 2009-10 budget (passed in October 2009) included tax increases and assumed slight revenue growth.

•In his budget address earlier this month Gov. Rendell, confirmed Commonwealth Foundation predictions that his budget spent too much--projecting the shortfall will reach $525 million by the end of fiscal year 2009-10. Based on the latest estimates, and with the two largest revenue collection months yet to come, the budget shortfall will likely surpass this total.

Eachus's claims were based on the 2010-2011 budget skipping what is happening in 2009-2010 in his "two-year planning process".

The Commonwealth Foundation report includes more information.

Gov. Rendell's plan to address the current year shorfall include proposed budget include:

•Use of remaining General Fund balance ($354 million after October transfer of $1.8 billion from other funds)

•$135 million in reductions from enacted 2008-09 budget

However, despite last year's $3.2 billion shortfall, and a mid-year pledge to make budgetary cuts, the governor and General Assembly failed to reduce spending accordingly.

Gov. Rendell's proposed 2010-11 acknowledged the long-term fiscal imbalance - namely that the current budget exhausted all the state's one-time revenue sources, such as the "Rainy Day Fund;" the federal stimulus funding disappears after the 2010-11 fiscal year; and the state faces dramatically higher state pension contributions beginning in 2012-13. However, Rendell's budget calls for more of the same:

•A $1.3 billion increase in General Fund spending.

•Reliance on an addition $850 million in federal Medicaid funding, which has yet to pass Congress.

•Delaying pension payments, pushing higher costs onto future generations.

•New Taxes:

◦Sales tax expansion to 74 currently untaxed items & lower rate - generating $531 million in additional revenue next year and $866 million the following year.

◦Reduces CNI from 9.99 to 8.99, imposes combined reporting - generating $66 million next year and $167 million the following year.

◦New tax on natural gas extraction - $161 million in 2010-11 and $260 million thereafter.

◦New cigar/smokeless tobacco tax - $42 million per year.

◦Elimination of the vendor discount for sales tax collection - $75 million per year.

If there ever was a case of smoke and mirrors Eachus's claims fall into that category. Pennsylvania is not through the 2009-2010 year yet. Eachus should be addressing this shortfall rather than pandering about his two year projections. One has to wonder how Eachus will be able to back up his claims when the state is headed for a $900 million dollar shortfall by June if the present trend continues. One must also keep in mind that the 2009-2010 budget had $1.8 billion injected to it largely from transfers and not tax revenue.

In case Eachus didn't look out the window; the economy is not recovering any time soon. In this election year Eachus will be passing out his WAM money probably starting very soon. As you can see it is money Pennsylvania does not have but obviously he is taking a cue from Paul Kanjorski and Nancy Pelosi. Then again, Kanjorsk has his own problems trying to "Rangel" out of his $16,000.00 fund-raising/public relations dilemma.

Luzerne County's Staffing Woes

The biggest problem in Luzerne County eminates from its workforce. Read the Times Leader article by Jennifer Learn-Andes and Steve Mocarsky to find that there are 1698 full time workers in the county. Maryanne Petrilla and Thomas Cooney are telling us there is no place to cut yet their consultant firm told them they could eliminate 150 employees.

Luzerne County is the second highest employee to population ratio and ranked third with total number of employees. Chester County, ranked number 1 regarding employees has one hundered eighty thousand more residents but only 283 more employees.

“We’re trying to trim and do more with less. We’ve made a commitment that we’re going to try to streamline government and operate as lean as we possibly can,” said Petrilla, the board chairwoman.

Petrilla has publicly said that the county’s decision to furlough 72 workers last year hurt some services. She also said consultant Public Financial Management’s option to cut another 150 positions in one year was unrealistic. Cutting 150 positions could save an estimated $6.4 million this year, the consultant said.

Cooney, who replaced former commissioner Greg Skrepenak in December, said he met with all county departments, and most have fewer employees than they did several years ago. He said he will consider any suggestions on reducing expenses.

“Overall, the departments are running with less, which is what the public wants us to accomplish,” Cooney said.

But minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban continues to maintain that there is still room for reductions. He said he heard few complaints about service cuts after last year’s layoffs.

Among his suggestions: switch court tipstaffers to part-time, get rid of a Hazleton solicitor position in the register of wills office and cut at least one position from recorder of deeds due to the office’s decreased workload.

Urban said he also believes the county administration could survive with fewer employees.

Here's a suggestion for the Luzerne County Commissioners. Read this paper, Preparing Allegheny County For The 21st Century, regarding the reorganization of the various departments in Allegheny County.

Reduce the Number of Departments

The government of Allegheny County is very fragmented with 30 departments, ten row offices, and an independent court system. These departments range in size from a high of 1,700 to a low of three employees. The director of each of the departments reports to the County Commissioners.

The Committee recommends that governmental functions be consolidated into a much smaller number of departments. There are several ways in which this can be done. A proposed organization chart depicting county government with nine departments is shown on page 13. This char is considered one
option and is not meant in any way to reflect a single ideal reorganization. However, the benchmark counties all had fewer departments, and many had reorganized in order to make such reductions.

Merit-Based Employment System and Employee Ethics

To attract and retain the most competent employees, thecounty need to institute a merit-based employment system.The system needs to be designed to treat all people fairly andequitably while encouraging high levels of performance formemployees. The county should also recruit highly professional and experienced managers. The selection process should try
to identify the most competent and qualified individualsavailable.

Allegheny County has approximately 8,000 employees. Theseindividuals can be hired by the County Commissioners,individual row officers, or by the court of Common Pleas.

Improve the Organization

· Reduce the Number of Departments

· Institute a Merit-Based personnel System Including a Model Ethics Code

· Appoint a Standing Government Improvement Commission

I know..it makes sense and after all this is Luzerne County. If someone can explain why we absolutely need a Recorder of Deeds and a Register of Wills.

Dan Onorato made this statement as part of his 2009 Budget Address.

This year we successfully completed the final phase of row office consolidation with the creation of the Department of Court Records, which combined the former offices of Clerk of Courts, Prothonotary, and Register of Wills, and the Department of Real Estate, which was previously the Recorder of Deeds. We have now reduced the number of row offices from 10 to 4, saving taxpayers more than $1 million annually.

The Luzerne County Study Commission is polluted in its thinking, not sure if it is on purpose or not. Mr. Haggerty is trying, not actually going out of his way, to use the commission to benefit his political aspirations. An appointed manager would not be independent like an elected manager. An appointed manager would always have his job haning over his head by the political elected Commissioners. Its a shame we have an opportunity to streamline Luzerne County but he is standing in its way.

Luzerne County Hikes Taxes 15%

The Times Leader is reporting that Luzerne County commissioners Maryanne Petrilla and Thomas Cooney voted to increase property taxes by 15% this morning.

County taxes will be 5.215 mills, up from last year's 4.5347.


The owner of a $100,000 property would pay about $68 more in county taxes compared to last year, with a bill increasing from $453 to $521. A mill is $1 tax on every $1,000 in assessed property value.

Mr. Cooney initially abstained over an ethics issue but then voted to break a tie which is perfectly legal in accordance with ethics law.

For Ms. Petrilla's part it must be a beautiful thing to make huge mistakes as Controller then be able to cover them up by voting for a tax increase.

To add insult to injury for struggling municipalities tax bill mailings will be delayed as a result of the Luzerne County tax increase according to the Citizen's Voice.

Where are the public calls for Luzerne County to live within its means like Barletta faced in Hazleton? Guess it demonstrates the political undertones orchestrated by the Democratic powers to be.

If I Were Todd Eachus's Handlers This Press Release Would Never Happen

SOP has been very vocal about Todd Eachus's lack of support to help Hazleton and his constituents as part of his partisan politics, not unlike what happens in Harrisburg.

Witness this press release and its wording:

Eachus: Hazleton to receive more than $22,000 in recycling grants

"Hazleton's recycling program is extremely valuable in protecting our environment and keeping our communities healthy and vibrant," Eachus said. "But recycling programs also provide a boost to our local, regional and state economies, contributing thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in economic impact."

In addition to the environmental impact of recycling programs, Eachus said this grant program promotes the growth of recycling in the state, as well as the economic impact the recycling industry provides to the Commonwealth. Pennsylvania’s recycling industry includes more than 3,200 recycling and reuse businesses, and generates $18.4 billion in gross annual sales. It provides jobs for more than 81,000 people statewide.

Eachus said the recycling performance grant was awarded based on Hazleton's population and the total tons of material recycled in 2007. According to the DEP, Hazleton recycled more than 1,600 tons or material last year, which is an increase of more than 60 tons from 2006.

He admits the grant was due to the efforts of Hazleton's compliance. By Eachus's own admission this grant didn't reach Hazleton because of his efforts. He has failed Hazleton due to his partisan politics. He has failed seniors. He has failed the 116th district. His supposed leadership failed to bring a budget on time. It is time he resigns and apologizes to the voters in the 116th. It is time he admits his failures. It is time, Todd.

Pennsylvania- Debt Disaster

An interactive at this site will glean the following information about the debt disaster in Pennsylvania:

Global Debt Crisis
#35 Pennsylvania
01.20.10, 06:00 PM EST

Forbes Debt Rating (out of 4 stars) **
Debt Per Capita $950
Unfunded Pensions Per Capita $9,825
Moocher Ratio2 54.4%
Moody's Rating Aa2
S&P Rating AA

Governor Edward Rendell
Gross State Product $435 bil
Population 12,500,000
Average annual net migration 12,600

Net tax-supported debt (2008) $11.8 bil
Debt as % of personal income 2.5%
Debt as % of Gross State Product 2.7%
State tax revenue (last 12-mos) $29.6 bil
State tax revenue change (last 12-mos) -7.5%
State and local general revenue (2007) $93 bil

Unemployment (2010) 9.7%
Job growth* 1.3%
Income growth* 1.6%
Gross State Product growth* 3.1%
Population growth* 0.1%

When are the voters going to wake up and throw out the persons in charge who caused this problem?

Are Authority Run Boards The Best Deal For The Taxpayer?

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has announced a plan to sell the Hazleton City Authority's Water Department as a possible solution to the financial crunch being felt by the City of Hazleton. In today's Times Leader an Opinion headline reads "Debt Crisis Needs Creative Solutions". It addresses the financial debt of Luzerne County.

The commissioners have to work through it with a medley of creative programs and innovative thinking – coupled with painful cuts and probably some tax bumps – to harness and bring that liability down.


We’ve seen glimmers of that this week.


The commissioners’ idea to seek proposals for someone or a firm to take over operations at the county-owned Moon Lake Park has the ingredients of making lemonade out a bucket of lemons.

A creative solution is exactly what Barletta proposed in looking at the city's dire finanacial straits. Hazleton is not bankrupt or close to bankruptcy by any means. A term called cash-flow bankruptcy would more accurately describe the situation facing the City and its residents. The fixed costs like insurance, heat, electricity, and obligations like pension liability are leading to an intolerable situation for the taxpayer.

The City could opt to go ACT 47 which would negate all labor agreements among other things to solve the current crisis. The City could raise millage beyond the current increase to an exhorbitant amount that would hurt many homeowners who could not afford the property taxes.

However, Barletta introduced a plan that would include the sale of the assets of the Hazleton City Authority-Water Department to create a long term solution that would not affect taxpayers to the same magnitude relying on property taxes as a means of funding the budget.

The Authority is taking the position that "they are the best run authority in the state". Here is a prime example of what can happen with part time persons running a $68 million asset.

Look at the court case between the Beaver Dams Outdoor Club vs. Hazleton City Authority. If you read the case you will find that past(not present) majority members of the Hazleton City Authority executed a lease with this club for 487 acres of HCA property at a rate of $1 dollar for 25 years.

The Authority further asserts the Board majority’s bad faith was reflected in the terms of the lease: 487 acres at one dollar per year for 25 years.

Now that is what I call one hell of a deal for the taxpayers. First the lease means that no other persons other than those who are members of the Beaver Dams Outdoor Club have use of 487 acres. Secondly since the HCA owns the acreage taxpayers in Carbon County are being cheated out of revenue because the property is being used by private, and can only be used by private people, but it is tax-exempt because the Authority owns it.

Oh but it gets better. The Board executed four other leases in that same year.

Board Vice Chairman did not ask for a copy of the lease at the December 8 meeting because he previously reviewed the lease, which replicated the format of the previous four hunting club leases executed that year.
Id. at 41; R.R. at 246a. With the exception of the property description, the Club’s lease was identical to the other four hunting club leases. Id.

The case does not state how many acres are contained in the four other leases but if they are anywhere close to the amount in the lease at hand there could be almost 2500 acres leased out for 25 years at $1 dollar per year.

This case clearly demonstrates what can happen to public assets when managed by part time board members who received political appointments.
That statement does not mean that every board member would act in a way that would harm the public but again, this case demonstrates the potential. One does not have to research far to look what happened in Luzerne County with all of the arrests of board members for bribes or passing bribes.

The Hazleton City Authority members seem to forget how they got their positions. Mr. Andras threatened to harm the Mayor's plan by seeking legislative relief. He and the entire board must remember that their seats are at the pleasure of City Council. As it stands right now there are three more appointments before the terms of this Council are up. Be careful of the dog who bites the hand that feeds it.

The public outrage over Barletta's plan to sell the water deparment for a potential $60 million or more is interesting since you never heard a word about the "essential taking" of almost 36% of the authority land for $1 per year. The leases will be up in the year 2028.

One may argue that at the end of twenty five years the Authority would still owe the land. But at present calculations of the rise and need for additional property taxes to cover ever rising costs in the City's budget property owners would have forked over at least $6,600.00 per homeowner. Under Barletta's plan there would be no increase. There may be an increase in water rates but they could never equal the rise in property tax.

Eachus Should Resign Leader Post According To Poll

Politcspa.com has a poll on the left side of its main page "Should Majority Leader Todd Eachus Resign? Eachus is one for franking polls so its his turn in the pit. Overwhelmingly the results are over 3 to 1 that he should resign as Rep. Bryan Lentz suggested last week. It is time for their caucus to reorganize especially when it took this long to get the table games legislation done that signals an end to the budget battle. Pennsylvania requires a passed budget by July 1st of each year. There are only 6 more months until July of this year.

5:00P.M. Tonight

No earlier than 5 P.M. tonight will be when Pennsylvania taxpayers learn whether the final hurdle to settling the budget arrives according to Amy Worden at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

$60,000 Per Day!!!

Surprise, surprise, suuuurrrprise. Luzerne County residents have to cough up $60,000.00 per day to repay its debt which is $466 million. The Times Leader has a great graphic by Gary Visgaitis showing the budget cuts and increases by department. In it is the staggering figure that over $21 million is budgeted for debt service. The article crtiques the current budget and the process to follow.

Department heads really don't know how much money they have to spend because the Commissioners have until February 15 to revise their spending plan. Commissioner Maryann Petrilla is following her mentor, Todd Eachus, in not having a concrete spending plan. Table games in Harrisburg are going back to the Senate to hammer out a compromise according to Andrew Seder at the TL.

The two chambers have appointed three members each to a House-Senate conference committee. In the House, Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township, Dante Santori, D-Reading, and Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester are on the committee. The Senate tabbed Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Chester, Sen. Jane Earll, R-Erie, and Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Pittsburgh, to serve on the committee.


The committee will meet at 4 to begin hammering out a compromise deal. Once that's released the two chambers would need to adopt that plan. The Senate could do it tonight. The House, following its own rules, can not vote until 24 hours after the report is received.


Terms of the leaders’ deal haven’t been disclosed publicly.


The two chambers were pressured by Gov. Ed Rendell to get him a final bill by the end of Friday or else he's threatened to lay off nearly 1,000 state workers. Revenue from table games was included in the 2009-10 state budget.

There has been a persistent rumor that once the table games legislation is worked out AG Corbett may have a present for Eachus. Again, a rumor but a really rampant one resonating out of Harrisburg.

Eachus Memo Surfaces Amid Allegations

SOP has obtained an email sent by Todd Eachus to Democratic Members and Legislative Assistants on November 09, 2009 at 13:37:58. Its reproduction is below.

From: Eachus, Todd
To: Dem Members & Legis Assts
Cc: Stalnecker, Angela; Kuller,Laura, Baughman, Vicki
Sent: Mon Nov 09 13:37:58 2009
Subject: Post-Budget Outreach Information

Dear Colleague:

Under my direction, the Office of Member Services recently compiled extensive budget reports specifically tailored to selected individual legislative districts. These reports detail the impact of the 2009-10 budget and were intended to serve as the foundation for Members' budget outreach with constituents and press. Whether it's a town hall meeting, a newsletter or a telephone conversation with a constituent, this information can be used to demonstrate how much better Pennsylvania fared as a result of our refusal to settle for the provisions of the Republican plan, S. B. 850.

The documents are proving to be a valuable resource to our Members, so with that in mind, I write to offer this service to you. Upon your request, I will instruct the Office of Member Services to compile a budget report for your legislative district which would include general talking points, detailed data, and a document delineating several outreach options that the Legislative Communications Office can help you execute.

If you are interested in having this information tailored for your legislative districted, please contact Angela Stalnecker in my office, at astalnec@pahouse.net or (717) 787-2229, and we'll get to work for you.

As always I will continue to do all I can to ensure that you receive the best possible service from our staff.

Todd

WOW!

Let's roll back the emails to a different time about the "incumbent protection program" put together by Eachus et al found on CasablancaPA.com.

THE VEON PAPERS
EXHIBIT F
Attachment 11
Document and mails shoping John Paul Jones performing House Democratic Campaign Committee campaign work on state time using state resources in 2007 under Todd Eachus' supervision.

From: Jones, John Paul
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 11:28 AM

To: Manzo, Michael; Cott, Brett
Cc: Manzo, Rachel

Subject: Incumbent Protection Meetings.

GOALS;
1. TO FOCUS, COORDINATE, AND DIRECT CAUCUS RESOURCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF INCUMBENT PROTECTION.

2. TO AVOID DUPLICATION OF INCUMBENT PROTECTION FUNCTIONS BETWEEN CAUCUS STAFF/offices.

3. To notify key caucus staff and leadership of progress (or lack thereof) by individual incumbents with regards to incumbent protection.

4. To share information across offices in order to constantly improve incumbent protection activities.

Meeting Composition:
Chairs- Rep. Eachus,
Mike Manzo,
Brett Cott

Leader's office- Paul Parsells
LCO- Chris Zarek
LRO- Jen Brubaker
OMS- Eric Webb

Approp.- Miriam Fox

ODA- Scott Casper

Policy Com-Rachel Manzo

Secretary-Mike Risch

Comm.-Barb Grill & Bill Patton

HDCC- Dan W. & Jess W.

F/R- Erin Madison

Misc. Staff- Jon Price, Bob Caton

Fast forward to the email "Under my direction, the Office of Member Services recently compiled extensive budget reports specifically tailored to selected individual legislative districts." Sure sounds like incumbent protection paid for by Pennsylvania taxpayers. Even in the Bonusgate climate it seems political addiction to certain behaviors are unstoppable.

Why should legislative staff be assigned to these tasks, and why should these members have to ask the leader's office for information? How can the leader justify using legislative staff when the Pennsylvania budget is still not finished?

This program smacks of the Members Incentive Program that had to go thorugh Eachus in 2007.

interoffice memorandum

to: Todd Eachus

from: Andrea Berringer

subject: INcnetive program

date: 4/2/2007

cc: JOhn JOnes

HDCC (MIP) Member Incentive Program

The most effective way to bring in money to HDCC is through call time. But call time is exactly that. TIME and time is a tough commodity here in Harrisburg. That is why it is going to take a rotation of members through HDCC's door to call on the organizations behalf to really build its bank. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get our members to offer up their valuable time to us, especially the ones who do not use services from HDCC or receive assistance at election time or during a primary situation. This is why I am proposeing the HDCC (MIP) Member Incentive Program.

HDCC will supply lists of potential donors to the Campaign Committee from the general area that the member is from. The members will use HDCC to make the calls, handle all follow up, attribution of donations to its respective caller and thank you letters. For their time, the Member will receive 30% of the donations they raise in the form of a contribution to their campaign committee sent monthly. This program will have a cap at $75,0000 total raised ($50,000 to HDCC and $25,000 to the member.)

After the Member has raised their commitment to HDCC, and wants to continue to fundraise for his/herself, HDCC will continue to keep with lists. HDCC will supply Members with lists of democratic donors that are micro-targeted to their particula districts/committees/issues/etc/ but all follow up, phone lines, and staffing from then on will be theirs. But because HDCC will still be supplying ALL of the prospects, we will be asking for 10%. (*Mind you this alleviates countless man hours of research, data entry, and cross referencing.)

This program will be offered to the Members who are in seats that often have primary challengers first; then rolled out to our most vulnerable seats and outward to all as soon as HDCC has the finance staff to support this.

John Jones
Representative Todd Eachus
717-787-4819


I guess we are back to Brad Bumsted's opinion on where does one draw the line between legislative and campaign work. It should start when all legislative efforts are focused on Pennsylvania and not the battle between Democrats and Republicans.

Not In The Cards

Half way through the fiscal year, state budget still isn't finished

By Lowman S. Henry
Who would have thought that half-way through the state's fiscal year the budget would still not be a completed document?

Our "full time" Pennsylvania General Assembly took a big chunk of the last three months of the year off, presumably to rest after the epic 101-day budget stalemate. True to form, one of the highest paid legislatures in the nation departed the capitol on Christmas break leaving a major component of the 2009-2010 budget still unresolved.

To end the budget deadlock of last summer and fall the governor and the legislature resorted to sleight of hand and included in the revenue projections $200 million from a source that did not - and to this day does not - exist. That would be fees and tax revenue from table games at the casinos which now dot the landscape of Penn's Woods.

The theory was that soon after passage of the budget the General Assembly would pass legislation legalizing table gaming and the commonwealth would rake in a windfall of $200 million in licensing fees. To keep things temporarily balanced, the legislature held off on approving funding for state-related universities, leaving them in a state of continued uncertainty.

That might have worked if the legislature had stayed in town to finish the job. But it didn't. Legislative leaders immediately closed up shop and headed home on a six week vacation that extended into mid-November. After putting in nominal effort prior to Thanksgiving, the "full time" legislature again adjourned to eat turkey and hunt deer. The $200 million revenue hole persisted, and students continued to wait for their funding.

With turkey in their bellies and venison in their freezers lawmakers returned to session. The state House finally did pass a bill legalizing table gaming, and so did the Senate. One small snag though: the bills were not the same. All of this was just too much for House Speaker Keith McCall and Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, who decided it was time to take a break to celebrate the holidays (Christmas having been banned from the public square).

And so here we are, six months - half way - into the fiscal year and still $200 million short of the funds needed to balance the state budget.
That, however, is only part of the problem. Setting aside the revenue component of legalizing table gaming, the casino industry in Pennsylvania has been beset by a multitude of problems including but not limited to corruption, financial malpractice, and the failure to even get a casino up and running in Philadelphia.

The initial law legalizing slots casinos was one of those typically Pennsylvania pieces of legislation that was passed under pressure from leadership and without the inclusion of needed safeguards. Worse, promised property tax relief fell woefully short of expectations as lawmakers siphoned off tax revenue generated by the casinos for pet projects.

The current effort to expand gambling to include table gaming is shaping up as a rerun. Neither version of the expansion bill addressed the many serious deficiencies of the initial law. If gambling is to be expanded, it only makes sense to remedy the problems that have become evident over the past few years. In particular, there must be more oversight by law enforcement agencies over the activities of the casinos and their operators.

Keeping in mind revenue from the legalization of table gaming is supposed to plug a budget hole, media reports indicate lawmakers are now trying to stick their pet projects into the legislation. This means massive new government spending for projects that didn't have enough support to get into the state budget. Thus a new pot of WAM - Walking Around Money - will have been created with the ultimate impact being to fund projects that further legislators' re-election chances rather than address the state's revenue shortfall.

This is the Pennsylvania legislature at its worst. State employees have been laid off, a school for veterans' children has been closed, libraries and museums are cutting hours; but lawmakers are still grabbing fistfuls of our tax dollars to achieve the most important goal of all - re-election. It is important to understand that not all legislators are acting in this manner. But all too many are, and they apparently are the ones in control of the process.

The bottom line: Pennsylvania still does not have a completed state budget. State employees had their Christmas, er, holidays, ruined by Governor Ed Rendell threatening to lay-off 1,000 of them if the legislature doesn't deal with the budget shortfall by early January.

They better hurry up and get busy; after all, the Groundhog Day break is just around the corner.


(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.)

Todd Eachus- No WAM Money- Rendell And Other Legislators State Otherwise

John Cole Cartoon Scranton-Times 10-14-2009
There is a list of the losers in the Pennsylvania budget according to an article that appeared in the Times-Tribune on October 10, 2009 by Roger Dupius II and Robert Swift.

• Teacher professional development (down 40 percent) and the Classrooms for the Future program (complete reduction).
• The state's Human Services Development Fund takes a 17 percent hit, to $29 million. Child care assistance would drop 12 percent, to $198 million
• Public libraries: State subsidies drop 20 percent, from $75 million to $60 million
• Higher education: Penn State (6 percent), state-owned universities (8 percent) and community colleges (9 percent) all are facing state cuts. Federal stimulus money may help offset these cuts. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency would drop about 3.5 percent, to $455 million.
• Economic development: Community revitalization is being cut altogether.
• Parks and recreation: Funding for heritage parks is completely cut, while state parks face a 19 percent cut
• The environment: The state Department of Environmental Protection will lose 31 percent of its budget, while flood-control projects will drop by 28 percent.

However, according to this AP article by Marc Levy that appeared in the Times Leader the fate of pet projects for Pennsylvania's legislators in not so clear. Pennsylvania's so-called "Walking Around Money" (more commonly known as "WAMS") are sore spots with taxpayers since WAMS are useful incumbent tools usually pulled out of the toolbox around election time.

Lets be honest. Many projects would be funded on their own merit, but politicians like to hoodwink the public into believing the money came to their town through the politician's effort.

Both the Democratic governor and top legislators insist that the budget contains no grant money set aside for legislators’ pet projects. House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Twp., said he broke the news to top municipal officials in his district in a recent meeting.

“I told them, ’Sorry, the money went into lines to help people,’ to cover the socially vulnerable populations of people that we all along said we were fighting for,” Eachus said. “These weren’t just talking points.”

However, Rendell’s top aides and top legislators have repeatedly refused to reveal how much grant money was tucked into the 2008-09 budget. That number remains the subject of much speculation.

“It’s hard for me to believe that they would go from somewhere from between $200 million to $800 million down to zero,” said Barry Kauffman, the executive director of the citizen advocacy group Common Cause Pennsylvania.

Never-before-released records obtained by the AP through requests filed under the new state Right-to-Know Law showed that legislators lodged special grant requests totaling more than $180 million since July 1, 2008 — more than $700,000 on average for each of Pennsylvania’s 253 lawmakers.

That figure is expected to rise.

A review of the legislature's own budget reveals a difference picture on the money both chambers receive to support their efforts.  Protectionism would be an appropriate label for their actions in this area.

The House and Senate's own operating budgets for fiscal 2009-10 are cut far less than many state programs.

The budget for the 203-member House is $184.6 million, down $7.3 million or nearly 4 percent. The budget for the 50-member Senate is $92 million, down $9.7 million or 9.5 percent.
By comparison, the budgets for enviromental agencies were cut by almost one-third, libraries lost 20 percent and public television lost 90 percent of funding.

To address Eachus's comment that the money went into lines to help people take a look at this article that appeared in the Scranton Times yesterday, October 18, 2009.

A last-minute flap during the budget debate focused on whether $12 million in "embedded" WAMs are in the budget. A leaked internal legislative memo titled "WAM Overview" stoked the issue by listing items in the budget.

Highlighted in the memo is a $175,000 appropriation for the John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, $3.1 million for "cultural preservation assistance" in the governor's office and $3 million for health care clinics in the Department of Public Welfare.

Mr. Rendell sought to defuse the issue by publicly releasing a letter saying he controls disbursement of state money.

Lawmakers are getting more adept at disguising WAMs, and tracking them is getting tougher, said Mr. Brouillette.
"
As there are more eyes on this budget and more scrutiny, it is even going to get harder," he added.

People pleasing statements are okay if they can be backed up with facts not fiction.

Rep. Mario Scavello Decries Secretive Nature of Budget Plan Details

Rep. Mario Scavello points out the billion dollar tax increase plan created by the House Democrats is devoid of most pertinent details.