PA budget standoff

[seabrooksfan]

Pitt is at risk of not receiving in excess of $140 million in state appropriations this year due to the budget stand-off. Visit with.pitt.edu to write your legislators and tell them to release money to Pitt (and Temple, Lincoln, and that other school).

 

[bwh05]

I'm shocked this hasn't gotten more play in the media.

 

[Agoodnap]

You should write to Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House. He is the REASON the budget has not been passed. He wouldn't bring a compromised/agreed to budget to vote that had passed in the Senate. Get this A-Hole out of office while you're at it just for good measure.

 

[wicker]

PA is always going to have this problem. Enough big cities to get a Dem elected Gov but so many rural GOP strongholds that the Legislature will always be Republican. A Democratic Governor hasn't had a budget on time since Shapp

 

[NTOP]

You should write to Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House. He is the REASON the budget has not been passed. He wouldn't bring a compromised/agreed to budget to vote that had passed in the Senate. Get this A-Hole out of office while you're at it just for good measure.

Right...just keep overspending, caving to the unions and wasting billions in the school monopoly.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

Pennsylvania

One of the lowest contributing states supporting their state or state related universities (around 10% of budget compared to some states contributing 30% of budget).

Corbett wanted to reduce state contributions to state related universities to 5% of budget.
The state appropriation given to Pitt is mainly used to reduce tuition for Pennsylvania residents attending Pitt.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Panthergrowl13]

Right...just keep overspending, caving to the unions and wasting billions in the school monopoly.

Carnegie Mellon University has one of the finest business schools in the country.

Yet CMU's undergraduate tuition is around $48,000 per year.

You would think CMU would be able to figure out a way to significantly reduce their tuition since Pitt only charges about $18,000 per year.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[pitt-girl]

You should write to Mike Turzai, Speaker of the House. He is the REASON the budget has not been passed. He wouldn't bring a compromised/agreed to budget to vote that had passed in the Senate. Get this A-Hole out of office while you're at it just for good measure.

That is patently untrue and hate to break this to you, but Turzai will keep that office as long as he wants it. (Pay attention to the ZEROED OUT IN HIS VETOES.)

"State Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-Hellam Township, estimates that 23 percent of the general appropriations bill remains undone following the governor's partial veto and that "those things need to be reconciled."

That's in addition to as many as five code bills, he said, and the funding for the four state universities, which are Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln.

The funding for those schools, which was the same in both the framework agreement bill negotiated between the governor and the Senate and the House Republican-drafted bill he received, was zeroed out in his vetoes.

Rep. Stan Saylor, R-Windsor Township, said Wolf made some "bad choices" in what he vetoed, and blames it in part on the governor's staff.

Saylor added that Wolf's taxes likely still don't have enough support and those who vote in favor could face serious political consequences come election time.

"Are they backing their governor or are they backing their constituents?" Saylor said.

Public school funding has been a major source of disagreement between Wolf and the Republican House leadership, though both the framework budget and the budget partially vetoed last week contain significant funding increases for basic education.

Wolf has repeatedly said that the Republican budget contains an effective $95 million cut to education, but the administration has failed to provide an actual formula for that number."

 

[Agoodnap]

That is patently untrue and hate to break this to you, but Turzai will keep that office as long as he wants it. (Pay attention to the ZEROED OUT IN HIS VETOES.)

"State Rep. Keith Gillespie, R-Hellam Township, estimates that 23 percent of the general appropriations bill remains undone following the governor's partial veto and that "those things need to be reconciled."

That's in addition to as many as five code bills, he said, and the funding for the four state universities, which are Penn State, Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln.

The funding for those schools, which was the same in both the framework agreement bill negotiated between the governor and the Senate and the House Republican-drafted bill he received, was zeroed out in his vetoes.

Rep. Stan Saylor, R-Windsor Township, said Wolf made some "bad choices" in what he vetoed, and blames it in part on the governor's staff.

Saylor added that Wolf's taxes likely still don't have enough support and those who vote in favor could face serious political consequences come election time.

"Are they backing their governor or are they backing their constituents?" Saylor said.

Public school funding has been a major source of disagreement between Wolf and the Republican House leadership, though both the framework budget and the budget partially vetoed last week contain significant funding increases for basic education.

Wolf has repeatedly said that the Republican budget contains an effective $95 million cut to education, but the administration has failed to provide an actual formula for that number."

No, it's correct. I just didn't explain that the R's are attempting to get those pieces of the budget passed that they agree with and leave the balance unapproved. Those bills you refer to above, which are Senate Bills 911 thru 915 for the four state-related universities and the University of Penn's Vet school, are the perfect example of the R's being slim balls. Sneaking pieces of the budget through is NOT how to get things done. Deliberation is how to get the budget through yet the R's just want to argue not deliberate.

You have been misled. The R's new that Wolf couldn't just keep approving the pieces of the budget they decided to send forward. Yet, by neglecting to tell you what they really did they were in fact lying and continue to lie today about the above bills.

So, let's review what I stated in my first post above. The Senate PASSED a budget that was agreed to by the Dems. Turzai refused to bring this compromised budget to a vote in the House. These are facts that no amount of rhetoric will change.

You want to get the state's money then write to Turzai and tell him to bring the compromised budget to a vote in the House. Tell him that your vote is hanging on his action. If you live in another district with a republican representative then tell that person you won't be voting for them because of Turzai and cc Turzai.

 

[pitt-girl]

No, it's correct. I just didn't explain that the R's are attempting to get those pieces of the budget passed that they agree with and leave the balance unapproved. Those bills you refer to above, which are Senate Bills 911 thru 915 for the four state-related universities and the University of Penn's Vet school, are the perfect example of the R's being slim balls. Sneaking pieces of the budget through is NOT how to get things done. Deliberation is how to get the budget through yet the R's just want to argue not deliberate.

You have been misled. The R's new that Wolf couldn't just keep approving the pieces of the budget they decided to send forward. Yet, by neglecting to tell you what they really did they were in fact lying and continue to lie today about the above bills.

So, let's review what I stated in my first post above. The Senate PASSED a budget that was agreed to by the Dems. Turzai refused to bring this compromised budget to a vote in the House. These are facts that no amount of rhetoric will change.

You want to get the state's money then write to Turzai and tell him to bring the compromised budget to a vote in the House. Tell him that your vote is hanging on his action. If you live in another district with a republican representative then tell that person you won't be voting for them because of Turzai and cc Turzai.

Pot meet kettle. Wolf is attempting to hijack the entire budget because of the pieces he doesn't approve of. And in regards to the contention that R's are "slim balls", there was plenty of opportunity from June through December for Wolf to pass the entire budget but he line item vetoed. Attempts have been made to fund those 4 schools in the interim, but he won't budge.

We can go at this all day. The bottom line is that the politicians are there to serve the constituents that voted for them. The Governor is there to seek compromise, which even the career politician Rendell accomplished. Wolf knew that both the House AND Senate are R controlled when he was elected. It's not like it was some secret. For all the "I'm a businessman" rhetoric in the campaign, Wolf has turned out to be the least able to forge ahead.

Corbett was voted out after 4 years for cutting spending. I predict Wolf will have the same ending except in the opposite.

 

[cruzer]

I have to laugh at this entire thread. It boils down to this:

When the "other" side has to compromise it's "good"

When my side has to compromise, it's "bad"

 

[pitt-girl]

I have to laugh at this entire thread. It boils down to this:

When the "other" side has to compromise it's "good"

When my side has to compromise, it's "bad"

Exactly, but a budget must be passed. Wolf MUST find a way to get this done.

 

[Agoodnap]

Exactly, but a budget must be passed. Wolf MUST find a way to get this done.

You just don't get it. A compromised budget that Wolf WAS going to sign and WAS approved by the Senate wasn't even presented to House. That is 100% on Turzai! This is a FACT which you cannot dispute. Turzai attempting to pass little pieces of the budget is not the way to operate.

Everyone in Turzai's district needs to vote him out.The only thing Turzai is interested in is getting his name out there to take a run at the Governor's Office the next time it's up for election. That is the ONLY thing this guy cares about right now.

 

[NTOP]

You just don't get it. A compromised budget that Wolf WAS going to sign and WAS approved by the Senate wasn't even presented to House. That is 100% on Turzai! This is a FACT which you cannot dispute. Turzai attempting to pass little pieces of the budget is not the way to operate.

Everyone in Turzai's district needs to vote him out.The only thing Turzai is interested in is getting his name out there to take a run at the Governor's Office the next time it's up for election. That is the ONLY thing this guy cares about right now.

So, how did Wolf line-veto anything?? He had a budget in his greasy mitts, CHOSE to exclude items he didn't like. Just because Senate Republicans caved doesn't mean the House must, too.
No frigging tax hikes w/o spending cuts. Wolf thought he'd get everything he wants in his first rodeo. Union pawn.
Think I'll work for Mike's re-election. Haven't done that sort of thing for a long time. Maybe pen some vitriol for him to use.

 

[PITT58]

Pitt is at risk of not receiving in excess of $140 million in state appropriations this year due to the budget stand-off. Visit with.pitt.edu to write your legislators and tell them to release money to Pitt (and Temple, Lincoln, and that other school).

WHAT??? The Gov. wants a one and one half $ BILLION tax increase. This is PA, not Fla or TEX that are booming. No income tax in those states also. Hail to PITT

 

[pitt-girl]

You just don't get it. A compromised budget that Wolf WAS going to sign and WAS approved by the Senate wasn't even presented to House. That is 100% on Turzai! This is a FACT which you cannot dispute. Turzai attempting to pass little pieces of the budget is not the way to operate.

Everyone in Turzai's district needs to vote him out.The only thing Turzai is interested in is getting his name out there to take a run at the Governor's Office the next time it's up for election. That is the ONLY thing this guy cares about right now.

Turzai has been approached multiple times for Congress and Governor. He has no interest, maybe when his kids are all grown which is not anytime soon. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Turzai will never lose his seat. He rarely ever has a Democratic challenger in the general election.

 

[deepelemblues]

Wolf thought since he was elected that means the legislature should pass what he wants.

It's the good old King vs. Parliament struggle that's been going on for 800 years.

The parliament holds the purse strings, the executive (king) can cajole them, berate them, pressure them in various ways, but he can't just run roughshod over them. The English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution settled that question.

If Wolf would just give up his insane tax on oil/gas producers the budget would have been passed months and months ago. That is the real issue and the Republicans aren't going to budge on it. Wolf knows this, he just doesn't want to give up his pet tax that was the main centerpiece of his campaign and is the hill he's decided his governorship is going to die on.

Republicans in the state legislature weren't elected by their constituents to pass a big new tax just because Wolf won the election. The election for the governor's office was an election for the governor's office, not a legally binding referendum on the gubernatorial candidate's agenda. Just because Wolf won does not mean he automatically gets or should get whatever he wishes from the legislature. That's not the way the American system works. Although governors and presidents really really wish it were.

 

[pitt-girl]

You just don't get it. A compromised budget that Wolf WAS going to sign and WAS approved by the Senate wasn't even presented to House. That is 100% on Turzai! This is a FACT which you cannot dispute. Turzai attempting to pass little pieces of the budget is not the way to operate.

Everyone in Turzai's district needs to vote him out.The only thing Turzai is interested in is getting his name out there to take a run at the Governor's Office the next time it's up for election. That is the ONLY thing this guy cares about right now.

No, I get it. The House was elected to serve their constituents. They will not back down on the spending/taxing impasse. In the meantime, all four Universities could have been fully funded with a nice, healthy increase. That it wasn't is ALL on Wolf. As I said earlier we can go at this all day. We look at this from different angles. The responsibility falls on the Governor to find the solution, not cross his arms. He is the Executive. He must compromise on the spending if he wants tax increases.

 

[bwh05]

The deal was pension reform and the liquor stores for the tax increase, which got thru the Senate and shot down in the House. Are we just going to ignore that?

 

[cruzer]

You guys in PA just haven't figured out how to simply and quickly "balance" the budget and get things done. Just do what we do out here in CA...pass a bunch of bond measures. Put everything on your credit card and declare victory. Problem solved.

 

[tps48]

Pitt is at risk of not receiving in excess of $140 million in state appropriations this year due to the budget stand-off. Visit with.pitt.edu to write your legislators and tell them to release money to Pitt (and Temple, Lincoln, and that other school).

The new PA Gov. should be in prison for spending money that he does not have. Typical politician.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

You just don't get it. A compromised budget that Wolf WAS going to sign and WAS approved by the Senate wasn't even presented to House. That is 100% on Turzai! This is a FACT which you cannot dispute. Turzai attempting to pass little pieces of the budget is not the way to operate.

Here is a fact that you cannot dispute. The way Pennsylvania funds the state related schools is through "non-preferred appropriations". Non-preferred appropriations bills require a 2/3 vote in the Senate and in the House. The State Senate passed the state related schools spending bill that would have increased funding to the schools by 5%. When the bill got to the House it failed because the Democrats voted against it almost unanimously so that even though the majority of House members voted for it the bill did not get the required 2/3 vote to pass.

 

[CrazyPaco]

This isn't the first time Pitt has had to dip into strategic reserves to cover overdue state appropriations...this is just the longest and first time there is a real danger it won't receive any of its fiscal appropriation for the year.

The uncertainty of funding every year costs Pitt's millions in real dollars and human resource effort. It makes annual and strategic budgeting a nightmare.

I really wish Pitt could detach itself from the state and roll back to something closer to what it was in 1965 (and it still received state appropriations when it was fully private...proportionally more then than it does today as a % of its total budget).

I'd consider phasing out in-state discounts at the main campus and increase them at the regional campuses essentially making Pitt-main private and the regionals more public thereby resulting in tuition at the regional campuses more in line with those at the state-owned schools like IUP and Slippery Rock. This would make Pitt more like public-state hybrids like Cornell that has 3 constituent colleges that are actually SUNYs but the other 10 Cornell schools (including Arts & Sciences) are private. Likewise at Penn, the vet school receives PA state funding but obviously the rest of the university is private. I'd really favor moving to a system like that to protect the Pitt core, especially if it would continue to receive capital project funding, and direct the piddly amount of educational designated appropriations to the regionals which are struggling compared to main anyway.

There is no reason to give out discounts to Commonwealth students when the state refuses to cover them....the Commonwealth has effectively reneging on the original 1966 deal for two decades+ now, yet Pitt still provides a 25-to-1 return on every $1 of state appropriations. This annual Lasche building treatment has gone on too long. Pitt's service to the state can be facilitated through the regionals and Oakland can concentrate on being the national university it should be concentrating on being anyway.

Along those lines...I wonder if Pitt could, as a symbolic gesture, refuse to seat the Commonwealth appointed trustees from meetings until it receives its funding for the year. When Pitt became state-related in 1966, 1/3 of it's trustees became appointed by the state in exchange for the state subsidizing 1/3 of Pitt's annual budget. I'd start barring Commonwealth appointees from meetings at the same portion as the % budget funding that Pitt has received for any particular year. Or if there is some legal barrier to barring them...remove their actual seats so they have to shamefully stand the whole damn meeting.

In any case, the next capital campaign should really focus on scholarship endowments to make Pitt tuition competitive whether or not it receives state funding (and all of these tuition increases directly affect costs to the athletic department as well).

 

[cruzer]

This isn't the first time Pitt has had to dip into strategic reserves to cover overdue state appropriations...this is just the longest and first time there is a real danger it won't receive any of its fiscal appropriation for the year.

The uncertainty of funding every year costs Pitt's millions in real dollars and human resource effort. It makes annual and strategic budgeting a nightmare.

I really wish Pitt could detach itself from the state and roll back to something closer to what it was in 1965 (and it still received state appropriations when it was fully private...proportionally more then than it does today as a % of its total budget).

I'd consider phasing out in-state discounts at the main campus and increase them at the regional campuses essentially making Pitt-main private and the regionals more public thereby resulting in tuition at the regional campuses more in line with those at the state-owned schools like IUP and Slippery Rock. This would make Pitt more like public-state hybrids like Cornell that has 3 constituent colleges that are actually SUNYs but the other 10 Cornell schools (including Arts & Sciences) are private. Likewise at Penn, the vet school receives PA state funding but obviously the rest of the university is private. I'd really favor moving to a system like that to protect the Pitt core, especially if it would continue to receive capital project funding, and direct the piddly amount of educational designated appropriations to the regionals which are struggling compared to main anyway.

There is no reason to give out discounts to Commonwealth students when the state refuses to cover them....the Commonwealth has effectively reneging on the original 1966 deal for two decades+ now, yet Pitt still provides a 25-to-1 return on every $1 of state appropriations. This annual Lasche building treatment has gone on too long. Pitt's service to the state can be facilitated through the regionals and Oakland can concentrate on being the national university it should be concentrating on being anyway.

Along those lines...I wonder if Pitt could, as a symbolic gesture, refuse to seat the Commonwealth appointed trustees from meetings until it receives its funding for the year. When Pitt became state-related in 1966, 1/3 of it's trustees became appointed by the state in exchange for the state subsidizing 1/3 of Pitt's annual budget. I'd start barring Commonwealth appointees from meetings at the same portion as the % budget funding that Pitt has received for any particular year. Or if there is some legal barrier to barring them...remove their actual seats so they have to shamefully stand the whole damn meeting.

In any case, the next capital campaign should really focus on scholarship endowments to make Pitt tuition competitive whether or not it receives state funding (and all of these tuition increases directly affect costs to the athletic department as well).

Paco:

I agree with virtually everything you've said. Frankly, I asked the question at a recent PAA Board meeting; "at what point does Pitt simply recognize that the hassle and uncertainty of state funding isn't worth the return?" Take Pitt private. Yes, it would cause some immediate heartburn, but the % of the overall budget has gotten to the point where Pitt could compensate for the loss. Another possible strategy for Pitt might be to publically declare that if the state funding falls below a specific threshold, we intend to go private. Of course, they better be prepared to execute if the State tells them to walk. I'm honestly not sure that the "state related" status is worth the hassle.

This would be monumentally dumb for the State of PA IMO, but hey, politicians do dumb things every day.

Cruzer

PS - I'll add one opinion that may not be popular on this board, but I don't believe Pitt has done a particularly good job of "packaging" their case for support to the public. They've done a good job on explaining the economic impact of Pitt on the region, but I've heard little about their efforts to control costs or spending during difficult times. Just makes it harder for John Q Public to get behind them.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Paco:

I agree with virtually everything you've said. Frankly, I asked the question at a recent PAA Board meeting; "at what point does Pitt simply recognize that the hassle and uncertainty of state funding isn't worth the return?" Take Pitt private. Yes, it would cause some immediate heartburn, but the % of the overall budget has gotten to the point where Pitt could compensate for the loss. Another possible strategy for Pitt might be to publically declare that if the state funding falls below a specific threshold, we intend to go private. Of course, they better be prepared to execute if the State tells them to walk. I'm honestly not sure that the "state related" status is worth the hassle.

This would be monumentally dumb for the State of PA IMO, but hey, politicians do dumb things every day.

Cruzer

PS - I'll add one opinion that may not be popular on this board, but I don't believe Pitt has done a particularly good job of "packaging" their case for support to the public. They've done a good job on explaining the economic impact of Pitt on the region, but I've heard little about their efforts to control costs or spending during difficult times. Just makes it harder for John Q Public to get behind them.

One of the problems with going completely private is that you'll almost certainly close at least 2...and very likely all four ...of the regional campuses. Those schools just won't be able to survive, competitively, having private tuition prices and that would be a shame for the communities those schools sit in (because unlike most PSU campuses, they are centerpieces of their communities and there isn't nearly the overlap and duplication of services with the state-owned schools).

Pitt main can survive with private tuition if you phase in-state tuition out and reach some sort of middle ground between in- and out-of-state tuition. In fact, Pitt main will be very competitively priced as a private university...in or out-of-state. They'd have to ratchet up their out-of-state recruiting though.

The other problem is that ...well frankly...there is $150 million a year there to collect...that is essentially equivalent to what we get from our endowment....so that is a lot money that can do a lot of things to just leave on the table. So instead of constraining Oakland, and thereby the entire university, by constantly pursuing and dealing with the headaches and uncertainties that come with it state subsidies, I'd recommend trying a strategy of shifting public subsidies to the regional campuses instead of just abandoning them. This could help free up the main campus to pursue a strategy of making itself a bigger national university by taking a chunk of the funding responsibility of the regionals off of Oakland, and if there are hits to take like there are this year, let the regionals absorb them because they will be the true state related schools and have to suffer the consequences of a unsupportive legislature. But protect the mothership, where the true reputation of the entire university is formulated, from the yearly roller coaster. In the end, Commonwealth citizens that want a Pitt degree with a subsidized in-state discount would still be able to get one (even cheaper than before) at the regional campuses.

And I agree, Pitt has done a poor job of marketing itself locally in a lot of areas.

 

[NTOP]

This isn't the first time Pitt has had to dip into strategic reserves to cover overdue state appropriations...this is just the longest and first time there is a real danger it won't receive any of its fiscal appropriation for the year.

The uncertainty of funding every year costs Pitt's millions in real dollars and human resource effort. It makes annual and strategic budgeting a nightmare.

I really wish Pitt could detach itself from the state and roll back to something closer to what it was in 1965 (and it still received state appropriations when it was fully private...proportionally more then than it does today as a % of its total budget).

I'd consider phasing out in-state discounts at the main campus and increase them at the regional campuses essentially making Pitt-main private and the regionals more public thereby resulting in tuition at the regional campuses more in line with those at the state-owned schools like IUP and Slippery Rock. This would make Pitt more like public-state hybrids like Cornell that has 3 constituent colleges that are actually SUNYs but the other 10 Cornell schools (including Arts & Sciences) are private. Likewise at Penn, the vet school receives PA state funding but obviously the rest of the university is private. I'd really favor moving to a system like that to protect the Pitt core, especially if it would continue to receive capital project funding, and direct the piddly amount of educational designated appropriations to the regionals which are struggling compared to main anyway.

There is no reason to give out discounts to Commonwealth students when the state refuses to cover them....the Commonwealth has effectively reneging on the original 1966 deal for two decades+ now, yet Pitt still provides a 25-to-1 return on every $1 of state appropriations. This annual Lasche building treatment has gone on too long. Pitt's service to the state can be facilitated through the regionals and Oakland can concentrate on being the national university it should be concentrating on being anyway.

Along those lines...I wonder if Pitt could, as a symbolic gesture, refuse to seat the Commonwealth appointed trustees from meetings until it receives its funding for the year. When Pitt became state-related in 1966, 1/3 of it's trustees became appointed by the state in exchange for the state subsidizing 1/3 of Pitt's annual budget. I'd start barring Commonwealth appointees from meetings at the same portion as the % budget funding that Pitt has received for any particular year. Or if there is some legal barrier to barring them...remove their actual seats so they have to shamefully stand the whole damn meeting.

In any case, the next capital campaign should really focus on scholarship endowments to make Pitt tuition competitive whether or not it receives state funding (and all of these tuition increases directly affect costs to the athletic department as well).

The trustee banning might be a workable tactic, but I'd give Gallagher a chance to see if he can work things out. The political impasse isn't directed at the schools....just at the budget. The GOP majorities won't let Wolf run rampant, and the guy decided to line veto stuff. He's unwilling to cut any of the waste in Hbg., and the GOP won't cave on his insistence on getting the foolish tax hike on gas production that he thought he'd just use to thank/ bribe the PSEA.
I think your solution to focus on Oakland as a quasi-private institution makes sense. Relying on the idiots who get elected is too unpredictable, and dangerous.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

The trustee banning might be a workable tactic, but I'd give Gallagher a chance to see if he can work things out. The political impasse isn't directed at the schools....just at the budget. The GOP majorities won't let Wolf run rampant, and the guy decided to line veto stuff. He's unwilling to cut any of the waste in Hbg., and the GOP won't cave on his insistence on getting the foolish tax hike on gas production that he thought he'd just use to thank/ bribe the PSEA.
I think your solution to focus on Oakland as a quasi-private institution makes sense. Relying on the idiots who get elected is too unpredictable, and dangerous.

Pennsylvania has one of the largest state legislatures in the entire United States.

Maybe to save Taxpayer money the Legislature should vote to eliminate 2/3 of the House and Senate seats.

It would make Gerrymandering harder to accomplish and let the citizens of Pennsylvania have a real voice in how they want the state run.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[pitt-girl]

Pennsylvania has one of the largest state legislatures in the entire United States.

Maybe to save Taxpayer money the Legislature should vote to eliminate 2/3 of the House and Senate seats.

It would make Gerrymandering harder to accomplish and let the citizens of Pennsylvania have a real voice in how they want the state run.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Already done - Turzai introduced the bill (House Bill 153) and is hoping of passage in the House and Senate this year.

Pennsylvania legislators are again trying to reduce the size of the state House of Representatives and Senate, with a pair of bills that would be the first steps toward amending the state constitution.

House Bill 153 proposed to reduce the House of Representatives from 203 members to 153, while House Bill 384 would shrink the Senate from 50 to 37 seats.

 

[NTOP]

Pennsylvania has one of the largest state legislatures in the entire United States.

Maybe to save Taxpayer money the Legislature should vote to eliminate 2/3 of the House and Senate seats.

It would make Gerrymandering harder to accomplish and let the citizens of Pennsylvania have a real voice in how they want the state run.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Turzai's got a bill to cut by about 1/3. Doubt it will pass.

 

[NTOP]

Already done - Turzai introduced the bill (House Bill 153) and is hoping of passage in the House and Senate this year.

Pennsylvania legislators are again trying to reduce the size of the state House of Representatives and Senate, with a pair of bills that would be the first steps toward amending the state constitution.

House Bill 153 proposed to reduce the House of Representatives from 203 members to 153, while House Bill 384 would shrink the Senate from 50 to 37 seats.

Didn't see your post, pitt-girl. Thanks.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Right...just keep overspending, caving to the unions and wasting billions in the school monopoly.

Post of the year! Agree!

 

[Panthergrowl13]

Post of the year! Agree!

CMU needs to implement changes to be more efficient.

Why do they charge a tuition of $48,000 per year.

Something must be wrong.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Panthergrowl13]

Already done - Turzai introduced the bill (House Bill 153) and is hoping of passage in the House and Senate this year.

Pennsylvania legislators are again trying to reduce the size of the state House of Representatives and Senate, with a pair of bills that would be the first steps toward amending the state constitution.

House Bill 153 proposed to reduce the House of Representatives from 203 members to 153, while House Bill 384 would shrink the Senate from 50 to 37 seats.

GREAT!!!!


Lets get it done.

Since the Republicans have the majority in both the State House and Senate, it should not be difficult to have this bill pass(if they are serious).

Have the Republicans pass the bill and let's see if Wolf signs.

Hope all Republicans write to their Legislators to support this bill.

Save Taxpayer Money.

Turzai should say, he will VOLUNTEER to be the FIRST to have his seat ELIMINATED (if the bill is passed).

Districts should be reestablished by an independent (non political) third party (no Gerrymandering). Hope Turzai has this added provision in his bill.

Hope he is not Grandstanding!!!!!

Lets see if anything comes from it.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Pitt4Life34]

CMU needs to implement changes to be more efficient.

Why do they charge a tuition of $48,000 per year.

Something must be wrong.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Why's a dog lick it's.........because it can.
Why's CMU charge.........because it can.

 

[Agoodnap]

No, I get it. The House was elected to serve their constituents. They will not back down on the spending/taxing impasse. In the meantime, all four Universities could have been fully funded with a nice, healthy increase. That it wasn't is ALL on Wolf. As I said earlier we can go at this all day. We look at this from different angles. The responsibility falls on the Governor to find the solution, not cross his arms. He is the Executive. He must compromise on the spending if he wants tax increases.

This is false. Corbett and his cronies took the state-related funding back to 1997 levels. Yes, 1997 levels. Wolf comes in and proposes and large increase but settles on a compromise of a 5% increase and that was in the budget. The republicans are now trying to say they proposed an increase which is false. They are misleading you. When you have been misled you have in fact been lied to by obfuscating the facts. The facts are Turzai refused to bring the budget that the Republican controlled Senate, yes Republican Controlled Senate, had approved. Had Turzai brought the budget to a vote we would have a budget in December. You cannot dispute this as it is a fact. Mike Turzai is the reason we don't have a budget.

Did you know the Corbett took the levels of funding back to 1997 levels?

 

[Agoodnap]

GREAT!!!!


Lets get it done.

Since the Republicans have the majority in both the State House and Senate, it should not be difficult to have this bill pass(if they are serious).

Have the Republicans pass the bill and let's see if Wolf signs.

Hope all Republicans write to their Legislators to support this bill.

Save Taxpayer Money.

Turzai should say, he will VOLUNTEER to be the FIRST to have his seat ELIMINATED (if the bill is passed).

Districts should be reestablished by an independent (non political) third party (no Gerrymandering). Hope Turzai has this added provision in his bill.

Hope he is not Grandstanding!!!!!

Lets see if anything comes from it.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

Here is a link to the Republican Caucus website which luckily hasn't been updated in a while. You'll see that gerrymandering is Turzai's number one issue back in 2012. It's right here in writing:
http://www.pahousegop.com/NewsItem.aspx?NewsID=13458
If it wasn't for this gerrymandering there wouldn't be a Republican Super-Majority. This guy needs to go.

Edit: I forgot to add that I'm all in favor of a reduction of House and Senate members. However as you stated in must be done by an independent third party. This is the difficult part...finding an independent third party that can't and won't be corrupted. There can't be many out there...just saying.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The facts are Turzai refused to bring the budget that the Republican controlled Senate, yes Republican Controlled Senate, had approved.

The fact is that the Republican Senate passed a budget and the Republican House also passed it and moved it on the the Governor. Who promptly line item vetoed much of the budget because the Republicans refused to accede to his demands for huge tax increases and huge spending increases.

The fact is that the Republican Senate passed the higher education funding bill by the necessary 2/3 majority and sent the bill to the House, where it failed because the Democrats almost unanimously voted against it. The fact is that Pitt (and Penn State, and Temple, and Lincoln) would have ALL their money today if it wasn't for the Democrats in the House.

 

[Agoodnap]

The fact is that the Republican Senate passed a budget and the Republican House also passed it and moved it on the the Governor. Who promptly line item vetoed much of the budget because the Republicans refused to accede to his demands for huge tax increases and huge spending increases.

The fact is that the Republican Senate passed the higher education funding bill by the necessary 2/3 majority and sent the bill to the House, where it failed because the Democrats almost unanimously voted against it. The fact is that Pitt (and Penn State, and Temple, and Lincoln) would have ALL their money today if it wasn't for the Democrats in the House.

Again, you are now obfuscating for the Republicans. They are attempting to get a few pieces of the budget passed that they agree with and ignore the balance of the budget. This is not the way to get things done. It is a fact that if Turzai had brought the compromised budget to a vote in the House the budget and therefore the state-related University funding, including Penn's Vet School, would have received their money. You have been reading the headlines.

I'll bet Trump is looking like a good choice for you right now, isn't he.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Actually I am merely stating the facts. Just because you are more interested in the spin than the facts doesn't change what the facts are.

And for the record, as I have said before on this very board I wouldn't vote for Trump, Cruz, Clinton or Sanders for dog catcher, because I would be worried about all the fleas they'd give the dogs.

 

[Agoodnap]

Actually I am merely stating the facts. Just because you are more interested in the spin than the facts doesn't change what the facts are.

And for the record, as I have said before on this very board I wouldn't vote for Trump, Cruz, Clinton or Sanders for dog catcher, because I would be worried about all the fleas they'd give the dogs.

I can see you need some help so let me google this for you. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=definition+of+obfuscate