HARRISBURG —
In the lull before the Legislature reconvenes for the final days of this election-year session, some individual lawmakers have put forth a potpourri of provocative ideas.
They include bills to tighten local governments’ belts by several notches, guarantee paid sick leave for Pennsylvania workers and abolish the largely ceremonial office of lieutenant governor.
None of the proposals is likely to pass before the current two-year Legislature expires Nov. 30, but each has at least a core constituency and could be a contender in 2011.
Rep. Thomas Caltagirone, the sponsor of the municipal consolidation bill, envisions a cheaper, simpler alternative to the present mishmash of more than 2,500 local governments and 500 school districts, each with its own elected leaders, public employees, consultants and the authority to levy taxes.
The constitutional amendment he proposes would vest the power of local government in the state’s 67 counties, and subsequent legislation would spell out how the consolidation will occur.
His ideas include a single statewide labor contract for teachers, countywide police and fire departments, and bundled health care benefits for public employees.
“Why do we have to think we’re in the horse and buggy age?” asked the Berks County Democrat. “Why can’t we change?”
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors has lined up with other local government advocates against the measure, saying it would create a county-run “mega-bureaucracy.”
Rep. Marc Gergely, D-Allegheny, sees his sick-leave legislation as a foot in the door to a larger debate over workers’ rights that he foresees growing out of the Pennsylvania’s multibillion-dollar debt to the federal government for loans that have helped prop up the state’s unemployment fund during the recession.
The bill would require employers to provide employees as much as 6.5 days a year of paid sick leave, and half as much for companies with fewer than 10 employees.
Employer advocates warn that the bill would increase costs and could stunt job growth at a time of high unemployment. Gergely says too many employees are forced to choose between their jobs and their health or the health of family members.
The bill to abolish the office of lieutenant governor is touted as a relatively painless way to save the $1 million a year it costs to maintain the office.
The proposal has won a supportive nod from Senate President Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, who has doubled as lieutenant governor since shortly after former Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll died in 2008. Scarnati said abolishing the post, which requires amending the state constitution, should be considered, along with eliminating numerous boards and commissions.
But the Legislature’s days are numbered.
Between mid-September and the Nov. 2 election, the House is scheduled to be in session for 12 days and the Senate for only 10. Senate leaders have said they do not plan to convene the chamber after the election, sharply limiting the prospect of any meaningful action in the four weeks after that.
Among other things, Republican and Democratic legislative leaders hope to hammer out an agreement on a new severance tax on the extraction of natural gas on the Marcellus Shale formation – a potentially lucrative source of revenue amid perennial budget shortfalls.
And Gov. Ed Rendell, who will leave office at the end of his second term in January, is beating the drum for action on tax and fee increases that he says are critical to the future of Pennsylvania’s highways, bridges and public transit systems.
There is little time and much to do. But for legislators with big ideas that will require much discussion and compromise, it’s never too early to start the conversation – even if a vote may be years away.
“What’s so wrong with getting people to start talking?” Caltagirone asked.
Local News
Little time, lots to do for legislators
Analysis
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