Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
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While the revenue-generating events schedule within the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center was nixed this past year, the Harrisburg-based venue remains on a solid financial footing, a state official reported recently. The vitality of the 24-acre complex, long viewed as a sign of Pennsylvania’s largest industry, has come into question on multiple occasions this spring as lawmakers have been meeting with head staffers within the state’s various agencies. In an average year, the Farm Show Complex hosts more than 80 events, ranging fro...
Gov. Tom Wolf’s continued call to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage was scrutinized at a recent budget hearing with the head of the state’s Independent Fiscal Office. Wolf’s proposal includes an instantaneous increase in the minimum wage, from the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour in July to $12 per hour. Thereafter, Wolf is proposing 50-cent hourly increases in the minimum wage each year before reaching a $15-per-hour threshold in 2027. But the would-be hike comes alongside a number of other weighty issues on the jobs front, including indic...
Workforce development, particularly at a time when Pennsylvania's employment numbers are in flux amid the pandemic, was a recurring theme at a recent budget hearing between a House panel and representatives of the state's community college system. The House Appropriations Committee on March 1 held its hearing for the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, the nonprofit, volunteer membership association representing the state's 14 community colleges. For all of the challenges of this...
The head of a Pennsylvania agency tasked with granting or denying businesses non-closure waivers in the early days of COVID-19 was in the hot seat recently as he faced a House panel. While the state House Appropriatio ns Committee typically takes a forward-looking view at operations out of Harrisburg, many of the questions and comments legislators lobbed at Dennis Davin, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, looked back at the past year. Davin, who likened some of...
By DAVE FIDLIN The Center Square Managing chronic wasting disease across Pennsylvania's natural habitats was a topic explored in depth as lawmakers met with representatives of the state's Game Commission recently. Bryan Burhans, executive director of the agency, went before members of the House Game and Fisheries Committee and gave an overview of the fiscal year 2018-19 annual report. Its yearly budget hovers around $117.14 million. "Our state game land system remains one of the finest networks...
When it comes to prescription drug pricing in Pennsylvania, representatives from a cross-section of industries agreed it is a complex issue. But none of the speakers were willing to assume sole responsibility for the costs consumers pay. During the week of Feb. 24, the Pennsylvania House Health Committee held a hearing on the thorny issue of how prescription drugs are priced and what some of the underlying causes are for increases. State lawmakers serving on the panel weighed in on the issue during the two-and-a-half-hour discussion, as did...
A proposal at the state level to eliminate school property taxes in Pennsylvania is being met with a chorus of different viewpoints. Legislators, representatives of disparate organizations and residents weighed in on the thorny topic recently, during a public meeting. The Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee held a public workshop the week of Feb. 17 to delve into a proposal to end the state’s long-held practice of having property owners pay taxes to a local school district. Proponents of the measure point to rising property taxes, w...
Rising costs and stagnant income is leaving Pennsylvania’s 121 parks with a projected deficit of about $500 million to address ongoing maintenance needs, a state official revealed recently. Paul Zeph, head planner of the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks, went before members of the House Tourism Committee on Jan. 15 and discussed the Parks for All plan, which was recently refreshed after last going under the microscope in 1992. In his testimony to the House panel, Zeph touched on a number of issues related to state parks, but the one piece o...
Six bills and a resolution aimed at curtailing human trafficking received unanimous support from members of a Pennsylvania House panel on Jan. 14. The review coincides with National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, which is recognized across the U.S. The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee advanced the various pieces of legislation during a brief meeting Jan. 14. The panel took testimony from the bills’ authors before giving favorable recommendations to the full House, which will take the legislation up later this month. “This is a ver...
As former Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley sees it, environmental friendly policies are concepts conservatives have allowed to slip away from the party platform in more recent times. “We, as Republicans, we, as conservatives, can continue to let others define who we are, or we can step forward boldly,” Cawley, who served as lieutenant governor from 2011-15, said this week at the Pennsylvania Conservative Energy Forum in Harrisburg. Cawley was one of multiple speakers, including former Homeland Security Secretary and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Rid...
A Pennsylvania House panel heard from a range of tradesman on a trio of bills that could reform state requirements for apprenticeship and training programs. The state House Labor and Industry Committee received testimony the week of Dec. 16 on House Bills 1746, 1840 and 2041, each addressing some facet of state standards on job training in specialized fields. HB 1746, authored by state Rep. Barbara Gleim, R-Carlisle, calls for changing apprenticeship ratio standards with more flexibility in the number of supervisors, depending on the field,...
By DAVE FIDLIN The Center Square Pennsylvanians are more likely to help their neighbors, stick with a volunteer activity and donate compared to most other areas of the country, according to a recent study. Researchers with personal finance website WalletHub recently combed through various data for the study, “2019’s Most Charitable States.” Pennsylvania ranked sixth of the 50 states. According to the report, 43.61 percent of Pennsylvanians engage in fundraising or sell items to raise money for a specific cause. The statistic landed the state...
Pennsylvania has about 153,000 regulations on its books – a number, in the opinion of the head of a state Senate panel tackling red tape and bureaucracy, considered excessively high. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Chambersburg, chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, offered strong, sometimes barbed comments at a recent meeting about the condition of Pennsylvania’s regulatory structure, which he stated is “onerous” and limits economic growth. “I believe that reducing regulations and bureaucracy is one of the most important...
Industrial hemp, the opioid crisis and the future of the Farm Show Complex were among the disparate issues Pennsylvania lawmakers recently discussed with the head of the commonwealth’s Department of Agriculture. Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding went before the Senate Appropriations Committee March 6 and fielded a range of questions as the legislators are combing through Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal. State Sen. Elder Vogel Jr., R-Rochester, asked Redding to weigh in on industrial hemp and its future as federal restrictions have bee...
By DAVE FIDLIN Watchdog.org Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to more than double the commonwealth’s minimum wage by 2025 dominated a Feb. 27 hearing between the House Appropriations Committee and Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin. During the two-hour hearing, Davin defended Democrat Wolf’s proposal as a long-overdue gesture in ensuring all Pennsylvanians are privy to a livable wage. Other officials within Wolf’s cabinet made similar overtures in prior February hearings. “This is something that I believe...
