Mike Folmer - Citizen for State Senate

Governor Rendell is scheduled to present his 2010 – 2011 spending plan to a joint session of the General Assembly Tuesday, February 9, at 10:30 a.m. The Governor has been calling for additional spending of around four percent – or an increase of $1 billion. This will be his final budget proposal, and it can be viewed live on my website by clicking “Live Senate Feed.” I’ll have my comments on the proposal posted on the site as well.

As the Governor continues to push for increased spending, state revenues continue to decrease. In December, the state collected $2.1 billion - $120.2 million less than anticipated. To date, the state is $374.4 million below estimates. The Governor has previously said that there will be a $450 million revenue shortfall by the end of the fiscal year (June 30). It appears that estimate will need to be revised upwards.

The full Senate unanimously approved a number of measures for House consideration, including:

Senate Bill 298 - amends the Clean and Green law relating to Marcellus Shale, wind generation systems, temporary pipe storage facilities, alternative energy for farm use, non-coal surface mining, and voluntary opt out of Clean and Green;

Senate Bill 828 - prohibits the state from citing non-profits and charitable groups for selling commonly prepared baked goods (homemade pies, etc.); and

Senate Bill 1169 - addresses a loophole in the law requiring convicted defendants to pay restitution, reparation, fees, costs, and fines and penalties.

The Governor signed House Bill 1847 into law as Act 4 of 2010. The new law addresses conflicts between property owners over coal bed methane wells and access roads. The bill unanimously passed the full Senate in December.

With continued concerns over the Administration’s plans to enter into an agreement with Delaware, and piggyback on their existing health information network, Senator Wozniak (Democratic Chair of the Senate Communications & Technology Committee) and I are introducing legislation to require an open and transparent bid process. Additional information can be found on my website.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi announced last week that the Senate will not convene for a regular lame duck session in 2010.

The 28 days between November 2 and November 30 are known as a “lame duck” session because some members of the General Assembly can vote on legislation despite the fact that their successors have already been elected.

The idea not convene after the general election is both consistent with the openness and transparency elements of my “Promise to Pennsylvania” and gives the Governor and House and Senate members plenty of advance notice that all legislative initiatives need to be completed in the early Fall.

Sen. Kim Ward has introduced Senate Bill 106, a constitutional amendment which would eliminate regular lame duck sessions. It would allow the legislature to convene if a special session is necessary. A similar bill was approved by the Senate last session but did not advance in the House.

The Senate did not have a “Lame Duck Session” in 2008 and it worked very well.

The Senate Communications & Technology Committee, scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, at 10 a.m., has been postponed to Wednesday, March 17. Bills to be considered include:

Senate Bill 964 – legislation to allow individuals applying for hunting and fishing licenses to provide alternative identifications (other than Social Security Numbers) no later than April 10, 2010.

Senate Bill 1147 – legislation to authorize the electronic gathering of driver’s license numbers or non-driver identification card numbers (in place of Social Security Numbers) for hunting and fishing licenses.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Last week a number of Senate Committees met to consider various bills, with some legislation being reported to the full Senate for consideration, including:

Senate Bill 104 - my state vehicle accountability bill
Senate Bill 109 - my “Taxpayer-Funded Advertising Transparency Act”
Senate Bill 766 - proposed “Science in Motion” grants
Senate Bill 895 - making the Pennsylvania Rifle the official state firearm. The bill was discussed at length, and the committee voted 8 – 3 to move it to a full Senate vote.

The Senate Communications & Technology Committee recently held a public hearing on the proposed strategic plan for the Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange (PHIX), a proposal to link electronic medical records and electronic health records to doctors and hospitals across the Commonwealth.

Ann Torregrossa, Director, Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform, and Phil Magistro, Deputy Director Implementation, offered testimony on the development and details of the plan. Kelly Lewis, President & CEO of TechQuest Pennsylvania and the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania, also appeared before the Committee and raised various issues.

Given the questions and concerns over recommendations to enter into an agreement with Delaware, and piggyback on their existing health information network, Democrat Committee Chairman John Wozniak and I sent a letter to Governor Rendell urging delay in signing such contract. Senator Wozniak and I also expressed the need for an expedited process to allow other technology firms to submit proposals and compare with Delaware operations. Additional comments on the PHIX proposal, are available on my website.

The Senate Communications & Technology Committee will meet again Wednesday, February 10, at 10 a.m. to consider:

For a complete list of Senate committee meeting times, dates, and locations, click here.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

With the House not returning to voting Session until Monday, November 9, the Senate recessed to the call of the Senate President Pro Tempore. Before recessing however, the Senate moved House Bill 1418 - the Capital Budget and Project Itemization Act - into position for a future vote. It would establish the maximum bond indebtedness that the Commonwealth is allowed to incur in the fiscal year for projects listed in the bill. In its current form, HB 1418 would authorize $143 million for five specific capital transportation projects and $1.6 billion for:

In addition to the amortization of the bond principal, the Commonwealth would also incur annual debt service interest charges estimated to be $134 million ($2.7 billion total) – depending upon the amount of the bonds and the interest rate(s) at the time of the bond sale(s).

The full Senate also approved Senate Resolution 160, which calls for a study of current government operations for possible cost-cutting recommendations. The resolution would create a commission from the private and public sectors to help the General Assembly identify unnecessary government spending. The resolution would be of no additional cost to the taxpayers. The idea is similar to a mid-1990's initiative, which created the Improve Management Performance and Cost Control Task Force commission (IMPACCT) that ultimately produced savings over a five-year period.

Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati recently announced reorganizations in Committee assignments:

I am pleased to continue serving as a member of the Senate Policy Committee and Chair of the Communications and Technology Committee.

Legislative Data Processing recently announced upgrades to the online bill history pages. Specifically, there are now links in the bill histories to House and Senate Journals. This means when you look at a bill, you can click on the page number by “Remarks see Senate Journal Page” or “Remarks see House Journal Page” and you will be taken to a PDF version of the appropriate Journal. This is designed to make it easier to reference relevant floor debate as you look for information on bills.

For example - bill history page for Senate Bill 1 of last Session (Open Records Act).

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

The Senate was scheduled to return to Session Monday, October 19, and Tuesday, October 20, to consider a number of budget-related items and other issues. However, since the House has announced they will not return until the second week of November, the Senate cancelled voting Session for Tuesday. On Monday, Senator-elect Robert Mensch (24th Senatorial District, Bucks, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton Counties) was sworn in to fill the unexpired term of former Senator Rob Wonderling.

Prior to recessing, the Senate passed a number of non-preferred appropriations bills – those providing state tax moneys to charitable and or educational institutions not under the control of the Commonwealth. All of these bills passed with the required two-thirds vote (33). I was not able to support a number of these measures given the state’s fiscal problems and the push for tax increases. The non-preferred bills are:

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Mike's Memo - Week of October 12, 2009
10/13/09

After the Senate (42–7) and House (107–93) passed the state budget for 2009 – 2010, House Bill 1416, the Governor signed it into law. I was not able to support this $27.799 billion spending plan because of the taxes needed to sustain it.

The Senate (35–14) and House (106–92) also passed House Bill 1614, amendments to the Fiscal Code that established budget implementation language. I was not able to support this measure either because of the taxes, transfers from other state funds, and various other provisions included in the proposal. However, I do like the proposed new organization House Bill 1614 would establish - the Independent Fiscal Office. While this new entity will automatically sunset upon enactment of the 2010 – 2011 budget (unless reauthorized by the General Assembly), I see a greatly improved budget process through this new agency. If reenacted, the Independent Fiscal Office would be established through a selection and organization committee compromised of the chairs and minority chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Majority and Minority leaders of the House and Senate, the Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Governor. This Committee would organize the office and select an executive director. Once up and running, the office would be responsible for:

Currently, the General Assembly is dependent upon the Governor for this information, which can lead to major disagreements even before a budget is considered.

Although the full Senate passed Senate Bill 1033 by a vote of 29–20, legislation that would bring table games to Pennsylvania casinos, it was not considered by the House. As I do not support expanded gambling, I was not able to support SB 1033. The Senate also unanimously passed Senate Bill 1088, which would bring needed changes to Pennsylvania’s current gaming law.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

On Tuesday the Senate passed yet another version of the 2009 – 2010 state budget, Senate Bill 1085. I was not able to support the $27.835 billion spending plan because I believe it goes beyond the ability of taxpayers to support it. SB 1085 passed 43–6, and now goes to the House for consideration. The Senate is in recess to the call of the President Pro Tempore awaiting House action on this and other budget-related measures.

As part of the budget package, the Senate passed House Bill 1531, which included tax increases and cuts. The bill passed 35–14, but because of the tax increases, I was a “no” vote. The bill now goes back to the House. Tax provisions in the bill include:

The Senate also passed by a vote of 36–13, Senate Bill 1042, changes to the Fiscal Code, which provide budget implementation language. I was a “no” vote on the bill, which now goes to the House for consideration. Provisions in the bill include:

Efforts to keep small games of chance from being taxed were successful. In the process, however, my Senate Bill 211 (legislation to increase the weekly limits of small games of chance) and Senate Bill 212 (increases to the daily limits for bingo) were tabled, or postponed. I hope there will be a future opportunity to have these measures considered by the full Senate.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Mike's Memo - Week of September 28, 2009
10/01/09

Governor Signs Bills into Law

The Governor signed a number of bills into law, including:

The full Senate will be in Session this week, hopefully to pass a state budget for 2009 – 2010:
3 p.m., Tuesday, September 29, Wednesday, September 30, and Thursday, October 1
11a.m., Friday, October 2, and Saturday, October 3.

You can watch Senate Session live by visiting my website, www.senatorfolmer.com and clicking on “Live Senate Feed.”

A number of bills were passed by the full Senate last week, including House Bill 1531, amendments to the Tax Code, which would establish a tax amnesty program for 2009 – 2010. The program is expected to raise approximately $63 million in previously uncollected taxes. Senator Browne was the only no vote on the bill.

The Senate also positioned a number of bills for further action, including my Senate Bill 211, which would increase the weekly prize limits for small games of chance from $5,000 to $20,000. I believe this increase is necessary to help volunteer and nonprofit groups (American Legions, civic and fraternal organizations, fire companies, VFWs, and others) with their fundraising needs.

Other bills acted upon include the “non-preferred” appropriations bills, which require a two-thirds majority of the full Senate. Those bills include funding for:

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Conference committee appointed to resolve budget differences

With the House’s rejection of Senate amendments to House Bill 1416 (the state’s most recent budget plan), both chambers appointed Conference Committee members to attempt to resolve the differences with the overdue state budget. House Bill 1416 as passed by the House calls for $29.1 billion in spending, but fails to include funding for higher education. The Senate version of HB 1416 is a $27.1 billion plan and includes higher education appropriations.

Conference Committee members include:

“Non-Preferred” appropriation bills fall short of required support

Senate leadership attempted to move the budget process along by seeking passage of “non-preferred” bills from both chambers of the General Assembly. The first vote – Senate Bill 1036, which provides funding for the University of Pittsburgh – failed to attain the required two-thirds votes needed (34 ‘yes’ votes). It, and the other non-preferred bills Senate Bill 1037 (Temple University); Senate Bill 1038 (Lincoln University); Senate Bill 1039 (veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania); and Senate Bill 1040 (Penn State University) were passed over.

Senate approves various bills

Last week the Senate unanimously confirmed George Cornelius as Secretary of the Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED), as well as passed numerous bills, including:

Education committee sends bills to full senate

The Senate Education Committee considered and reported a number of measures to the full Senate, including Senate Resolution 156 which endorses new high school graduation requirements and proposed “Keystone Exams.” Citing concerns about costs to the state and school districts, I was the only committee member to not support the measure. Other measures approved (all unanimously) by the Committee included:

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Optional bike ride after breakfast
1 to 2 hours weather permitting

Saturday, August 22, 2009
Hometown Family Restaurant
Route 422, Palmyra, PA
7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Cost is $15.00 per person

All are invited . Senator Folmer will discuss the budget, items of interest to cyclists, naturalists, educators and those involved in sports.

Senate approves another version of 2009 – 2010 State Budget, returns to Session

By a vote of 31 – 19, the full Senate amended and then passed House Bill 1416, a proposed state budget for 2009 – 2010. The amended HB 1416 basically mirrors the previously passed Senate version of the state budget, Senate Bill 850, with additional one-time revenues to make it a balanced plan (after SB 850 was passed in May, state revenues fell by an additional $1 billion, knocking SB 850 out of balance). However, the House of Representatives rejected the Senate plan by a vote of 49 – 150, setting the stage for a Conference Committee to attempt to work out the details of the now one month overdue 2009 – 2010 budget.

With the House’s rejection of the Senate’s second budget proposal, Senate Session is scheduled this week at 4 p.m. Monday, July 27; 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 28; and 10 a.m., Wednesday, July 29.

“Temporary” taxes are rarely temporary

tem·po·rar·y (tmp-rr), adj. Lasting, used, serving, or enjoyed for a limited time. From the Latin temporrius, from tempus, tempor-, time. Synonyms: temporary, acting, ad interim, interim, provisional. Antonym: permanent.

Governor Rendell has called for a temporary, 16 percent increase in the Personal Income Tax (PIT), which he says is the state’s “best option” to balance the state budget, and says a PIT increase wouldn’t be as bad since roughly half of Pennsylvania households would not pay it. For the half that would end up footing the tax bill, the Governor says the increase would be “less than $5 per week.”

Milton Friedman said: “Congress can raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that somebody else will pay.”

Although $5 may not seem a lot to the Governor, this “temporary tax” adds up to $20 a month, or $240 a year – money I am sure individuals would rather spend elsewhere.

From a look at the definition, “permanent” is an antonym of “temporary;” that is exactly what has become of other “temporary” tax increases throughout Pennsylvania history. The most famous (or infamous) temporary tax is the 1936 Johnstown Flood Tax. Enacted as a 10 percent tax on liquor, the toll was set to expire May 31, 1937. Over the years, the sunset date was extended numerous times until the tax was made permanent in 1951. The current rate is 18 percent.

A year prior to the Johnstown Flood Tax, the Cigarette Tax was enacted as another emergency tax of 0.1 cent per cigarette. It also became permanent in 1951, and the current tax rate is 6.75 cents per cigarette.

Other “temporary” taxes include:

Committee news and meeting schedule for Tuesday, July 28

Community, Economic and Recreational Development

9 a.m., room 8E-B, East Wing, public hearing on the confirmation of George Cornelius as Secretary of the Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED)

Environmental Resources and Energy
9:15 a.m., 461 Main Capitol, consideration of:

9:30 a.m., 8E-A, East Wing, consideration of:

The committee will hold a hearing to discuss school consolidation Friday, August 7, at 1 p.m. at St. Francis University, 117 Evergreen Drive, Loretto.

9:45 a.m., 461 Main Capitol, consideration of House Bill 1770, extended Unemployment Compensation benefits

Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness

1 p.m., Hearing Room One, North Office Building, public hearing to discuss funding issues at state veterans’ homes

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Modern Day "Promise to Pennsylvania"

My "Promise to Pennsylvania" was the foundation of my run for office and continues to be a guiding force in my role as your Senator. A key component of the promise is to get government spending under control - a challenge whenever the General Assembly works on the state budget.

While our current state budget limits spending for the first time in years, total spending for the general fund reached $28 billion - that breaks down to $77 million per day; $3 million per hour; $53,775 per minute; and $896 per second. These figures do not include other expenditures, which take total spending to almost $2,000 per second.

After the passage of the 2008 - 2009 budget, economic problems began to drain state funds - in April alone revenues were nearly $1 billion short; today, a month later, we are facing a $3 billion deficit.

These numbers present lawmakers with two options - raise taxes to pay for $3.3 billion in new spending, as the governor would like, or support Senate Bill 850 - the $27.3 billion budget proposal by Senate Republicans that holds the line on taxes and increases spending just over 1 percent from the current fiscal year.

If we do not get spending under control now, I believe the state will be faced with a structural deficit for years to come. Furthermore, with the state's current economic climate, a looming pension crisis, increased debt, and lagging revenues, it would be irresponsible to toy with a tax increase and place additional burdens on Pennsylvania taxpayers. Controlling spending poses difficult and painful choices. It's like Christmas when your children want 10 gifts but you can only afford four. You don't love them any less by not giving them 10, but you need to stick to your budget.

Government needs to do the same. We need to prioritize each state-funded program and determine if it is a valuable use of tax dollars, when dollars are so limited. Like kids at Christmas, we want to have it all, but that is not reality.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Sends Legislation to House

The full Senate sent a number of bills to the House for consideration, including:

The Senate Education Committee reported out a number of bills to the full Senate for consideration, including:

The Education Committee has also been holding unprecedented hearings to review the proposed Department of Education budget, going through the budget page-by-page and line-by-line. This will be invaluable in shaping education spending for 2009 - 2010.

The Senate State Government Committee also reported out a number of bills to the full Senate for consideration, including:

In weighing the cost benefits of having a full-time District Office in Elizabethtown, I have decided to reduce expenses by closing the office and working out of various other offices. Feel free to call either my Harrisburg office (787-5708) or my Lebanon office (274-6735) whenever you need to see me. I will be happy to meet with you.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Energy Efficiency in State Government Buildings

In this economy, ever dollar counts which is why I plan to introduce an initiative designed to save tax dollars by lowering energy costs for state government. The proposal would:

Representative Ron Miller introduced similar measures last Session and introduced House Bill 22 during the House Special Session on Energy.

Bike season will soon be in full swing, and to improve the safety of riders, I plan to introduce legislation which would require motor vehicle drivers to pass bicyclists on the left, and to do so at a distance of not less than four feet. Representative Ron Miller sponsored similar legislation last session, House Bill 2689.

Senate Bill 140, my legislation to eliminate the position of elective assessors in townships of the first class, was unanimously approved by the full Senate. While Senate Bill 140 is just a small step, it is consistent with my philosophy of squeezing every penny out of every tax dollar. Senate Bill 140 is a companion bill to Senator Gordner's Senate Bill 139 and Senate Bill 141. These measures would eliminate these local positions as few municipalities want, need, or use the position of elected assessors.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has completed public hearings on the Governor's 2009-2010 proposed state budget. The Senate returned to Harrisburg March 9, and is scheduled to be in full Session March 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 and April 1. You can watch Senate Session live by visiting my website www.senatorfolmer.com.

Next week I plan to reintroduce legislation to clarify the balance between personal privacy and public security. The bills include:

A press conference with these Senators and Representative Sam Rohrer is planned for next week.

I also plan to introduce a resolution affirming the sovereignty of the states by reminding the federal government of their constitutional limitations under the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution. Arizona, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas have similar measures. My resolution is the Senate companion to Representative Rohrer's House Resolution 95.

To recognize the many benefits farmers and farming have brought to our state, I've introduced Senate Resolution 39, which declares March 22 - 28 "Family Farm Week. Family farms are the backbone of our state and the source of our sustenance.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Healthy Pennsylvania Reintroduced

To better empower consumers with choice and autonomy over their health care decisions, I am reintroducing my Healthy Pennsylvania care initiative. The 11 bill plan, which seeks to address our health care problems through consumer-driven/market-driven initiatives, includes:

My proposal to eliminate the position of elective assessors in Townships of the First Class, Senate Bill 140, was unanimously reported from the Senate Local Government Committee and sent to the full Senate for consideration. While the impact of eliminating these positions might not be ideal, the initiative is consistent with my philosophy to use each tax dollar wisely. Most municipalities no longer have elective assessors, which is why similar bills were enacted into law for Townships of the Second Class. Senator Gordner has similar bills (Senate Bill 139 and Senate Bill 141) to eliminate these positions in Boroughs. These bills were also reported to the full Senate for consideration.

I recently reintroduced a bill relating to the powers and duties of police officers employed at state military installations, Senate Bill 384. The bill would establish better protection and security for Pennsylvania's military installations by clarifying the powers and duties of police officers employed at these institutions. These officers would be given powers and duties similar to those of local and state law enforcement officers. The legislation would also provide for more training of security officials patrolling military facilities.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Promise to Pennsylvania Initiatives Reintroduced

I have reintroduced a number of initiatives that are part of my "Promise to Pennsylvania." Bills include:

Cord Blood Bank Bill

To better serve Pennsylvanians in need of transplants, I am sponsoring legislation to create a state cord blood bank.

The bill, Senate Bill 382, is designed to complement the federal Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005. A Pennsylvania Public Cord Blood Bank would be required to meet the requirements of a qualified cord blood bank under federal law and would have to participate with the national program. As such, the Pennsylvania program would be able to apply for additional federal future funding if any of the federal funding allocated for cord blood band would be available. Last Session the bill (Senate Bill 1132) was sponsored Senator Rob Wonderling. The proposal was not acted on by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

This legislation was requested by the Lebanon County Commissioners who believe the cost/benefit of these positions are no longer justified and, as a result, should be eliminated.

If enacted into law, Senate Bill 392 would give Counties of the Fifth Class, such as Lebanon, the option to abolish the positions by either empowering citizens to initiate a referendum or adopt a resolution to place the question on the ballot for the general public to vote whether to eliminate the positions.

Upon approval of such a referendum, the office of Jury Commissioner would expire at the end of the current commissioners' term(s) of office.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Thursday, February 5, I will host a free informational session on the H20 PA Act and application process. The seminar will feature Catherine Washburn, Executive Director, Community, Economic & Recreational Development Committee, who will inform municipalities and water/sewer authorizes about the program and clear misconceptions about the application process.

The seminar will begin at 6 p.m. and be held in Room 107 of the Heilman Center on the campus of Lebanon Valley College. RSVPs to Beth Williams would be appreciated.

Next week marks the first round application deadline for the $800 million program. It is my plan that this informational session is the first of many on this subject.

Wednesday, February 4 marks the Governor’s 2009 – 2010 Budget Address. A live feed of the speech will be on my website.

Elements of “Healthy Pennsylvania,” my health care reform package that relies upon consumer-driven/market-driven initiatives, will be reintroduced in the new 2009 – 2010 Session. The goal of this package is to reduce the costs of health care while preserving quality and promoting health care access.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Reform Package Unveiled

On Wednesday, January 21, my Senate colleagues and I hosted a press conference to announce the reintroduction of reform legislation. Identical and/or similar bills were passed by the full Senate last Session and sent to the House for consideration. However, none were approved by the House, which is why they need to be reintroduced this Session. I am the prime sponsor of two of the bills, and am cosponsoring the others.

Bills discussed included:

Senate Budget Hearings Scheduled

On February 3, Governor Rendell is scheduled to deliver his 2009 – 2010 Budget Address to the General Assembly. Given the condition of our state and national economy, and the growing budget deficit, passing a budget will be a major challenge.

Later in the month, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will conduct budget hearings. The hearings are set to begin the week of February 23. For the detailed testimony schedule click here.

Governor’s Report on State Performance

The second report on state performance for 2007 – 2008 was recently released. I’m still in the process of reviewing the report, which can be found here.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Mike's Memo - Week of December 29, 2008
12/29/08

Below is the text of my monthly column that ran in newspapers throughout the 48th District. Best wishes to you and your family for a happy and healthy new year!

Helping Those Who Help Us

It is no secret that in times of economic downturn, donations to charitable and other non-profit groups decline. Organizations hit especially hard in tough economic times are our emergency service responders and other volunteer-operated civic and fraternal organizations that serve our community.
That is why I plan to reintroduce legislation that will increase the daily bingo limit from $4,000 to $8,000 (formerly Senate Bill 978) and support a measure that would increase the weekly limits for small games of chance from $5,000 to $20,000 (formerly House Bill 169 and Senate Bill 845); these proposals do not expand gaming, nor will they bring additional costs to Pennsylvania taxpayers. They are simply designed to help volunteer, social, and fraternal organizations generate revenue in tough economic times; alleviate financial challenges associated with increased service and equipment costs; recruitment of new members; and the constant need to fundraise. These bills help those who help us.

It has been almost two decades since the General Assembly increased the daily bingo limit or increased the weekly limits for small games of chance. Despite concerted efforts to get my Senate Bill 978 to the Senate floor, including the introduction of an unprecedented discharge resolution (the last successful attempt was in the 1920’s), neither my bill nor similar ones made it out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Time simply ran out in 2008. But now, at the dawn of a new legislative session and new Senate leadership, it is time again to push these measures and support those who support us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senator Folmer Town Hall Meeting - January 8, 2008
12/26/08

Senator Mike Folmer will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting on January 8, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Ebenezer Fire Hall. Please save the date! Please click here to view the agenda. Hope to see you all there!

Senate Returns to Session

The Senate returns to Session this week for three scheduled days of voting and there is a possibility that a number of outstanding issues could be considered by the full Senate, including energy, healthcare, and proposed amendments to the state’s Dog Law. Given the furor over previous “Lame Duck” sessions, the Senate is not planning to return to Session after the November 4 General Election, and any bill not acted upon by November 30, (last day of the current legislative session) will automatically ‘die’ and need to be reintroduced again (with new bill numbers) next session.

Dog Law Amendments

With all the major issues facing the General Assembly, it’s interesting to me that one of the top priorities – at the Governor’s urging – are finalizing amendments to Pennsylvania’s Dog Law (House Bill 2525). While I agree with the goal of protecting dogs, I am troubled by provisions in the House passed version of the bill. Some of my concerns include:

Equally troubling about this bill are some of the methods used to pass the initiative. A number of Senate offices received e-mails with a return address of “pahouse.net,” a domain linked to the House Democratic Caucus; if tax dollars were used to finance these messages, I question the objectivity and motives.
This situation reminds me of arguments about the need for the federal Patriot Act…sacrificing a little liberty is necessary for better safety. To these advocates, I quote the words of Benjamin Franklin, “those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Bills Continue to Await House Action

A number of my bills await action by the House of Representatives in the final days of the 2007 – 2008 legislative session, including:

State Government Committee Holds Briefing on New Open Records Law

The Senate State Government Committee on Monday heard from Terry Mutchler, Executive Director of the state’s new Office of Open Records. The purpose of the briefing was to get an update on the progress of the new Open Records Law.

On a side note, Ms. Mutchler will be at the November Lebanon County Municipal Manager’s meeting to discuss the law and answer questions.

For more information about the Open Records Law and the Office of Open Records, visit http://openrecords.state.pa.us.

Appropriations Committee to Assess State Revenues

The Senate Appropriations Committee also met on Monday to discuss the growing concerns of the Commonwealth’s deteriorating financial situation.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Session Days

In keeping with its promise to not hold a “Lame Duck” Session after the November Election, the Senate has scheduled nine Session Days prior to November 4:

November 20 and 21 may be used for a formal closeout of 2008 Session, including
possible confirmation votes, the constitutionally required election of the President Pro Tempore-for-the-Interim, and other housekeeping details.

Legislative Update

Listed below are the bills I’ve sponsored during the current legislative session. Many of them are part of my pledge to reform state government. If these bills are not acted upon by the end of November, they will ‘die’ in committee, and will need to be reintroduced next session, which begins in January 2009. I encourage you to contact members of the respective committees to get these bills moving.

The list below displays the Bill Name and Number on line (1) and the Status on line (2):

(1) Senate Bill 707, The Taxpayer Protection Act (part of my Promise to Pennsylvania)
(2) Senate Appropriations Committee

(1) Senate Bill 709, Elimination of Elected Assessors in Townships of the First Class
(2) House Appropriations Committee

(1) Senate Bill 805, Accountability for the Operation of the Educational Assistance Program
(2) House Education Committee

(1) Senate Bill 978, Increasing the Daily Limits of the Bingo Law
(2) Senate Appropriations Committee

(1) Senate Bill 1015, “Taxpayer Funded Advertising Transparency Act” (part of my Promise to PA)
(2) House State Government Committee

(1) Senate Bill 1107, Military Child Custody Arrangements
(2) House Judiciary Committee

(1) Senate Bill 1181 to Senate Bill 1196, SB 1182 and SB 1189, Healthy PA” health care package
(2) Senate Finance Committee, various other Senate Committees

(1) Senate Bill 1220, exempt Pennsylvania from the provisions of the federal REAL ID Act:
(2) Senate Communications and Technology Committee

(1) Senate Bill 1290, Citizen’s Constitutional Convention
(2) Set to be considered by the Senate State Government Committee on September 17

(1) Senate Bill 1292, “Tax Me More Fund” (part of my Promise to Pennsylvania)
(2) Senate Finance Committee

(1) Senate Bill 1499, Accountability for the use of State Vehicles
(2) House State Government Committee

(1) Voters’ Choice Act
(2) Awaiting assignment of bill number

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Mike's Memo - Week of September 8, 2008
09/09/08

The Case for a Citizens’ Constitutional Convention

The goal of my Promise to Pennsylvania is to reinstate the principles upon which our state was founded, and to restore citizens’ trust in government through legislative and political reform. However, with controversies continuing to swirl around the General Assembly, people are growing impatient – and rightly so.

That’s why I was one of the first to sign onto Senator Jeff Piccola’s petition for a Special Session on Ethics and Government Reform. While I remain optimistic that this effort will succeed, I also recognize that time is growing short to garner a majority of legislators in both chambers to convene a Special Session.

I believe the best chance for people to get their government back is to hold a Citizens’ Constitutional Conventional, where vital reforms (many of which are part of the Promise to Pennsylvania) can be addressed by ordinary citizens.

My Senate Bill 1290 would put the idea of a Citizens’ Constitutional Convention before Pennsylvania voters in the 2009 primary election. If approved, 150 delegates (three from each Senatorial District) – ordinary citizens, not legislators or lobbyists – would be elected in November 2009. By relying upon citizens, the Convention would not be merely a shadow Legislature.

Senate Bill 1290 outlines rules and procedures for a convention. Delegate candidates would need to be 21 years of age, obtain 100 signatures from registered district voters, and pay the standard $100 filing fee. Delegate elections would be nonpartisan - no party affiliation would appear next to candidates’ names on the ballot. As delegates would debate reform full-time for nine months, my plan would pay them the same salary legislators earn. Otherwise, only the wealthy and retirees could afford to be a delegate.

Open for debate at the convention would be such ideas as term limits, fair redistricting, ending lame duck sessions, and empowering the people to recall statewide officials. Proposed revisions to the current Constitution would first need the approval of 2/3 of the convention delegates and then statewide voter approval. My plan would limit the scope of the convention to the articles of our state Constitution that deal with the operation of the three branches of state Government; our Bill of Rights would be strictly off-limits, as would policy areas such as education and transportation.

The cost of the Convention would come from existing moneys and would not trigger a tax increase or a decrease in funding for existing state programs and services.

Senate Bill 1290 and two other Constitutional Convention bills are scheduled to be considered by the Senate State Government Committee on September 17. If you, too, believe your government deserves to be back in your hands, I encourage you to contact members of the Senate State Government Committee and voice your support for Senate Bill 1290.

I am hopeful the Senate will be given the chance to consider Senate Bill 1290. The people of Pennsylvania deserve the opportunity to be heard.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Hearing on Military Child Custody Bill

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on my Senate Bill 1107, which would provide military personnel who are deployed overseas with protections relating to child custody proceedings. The hearing will take place today, August 25, at 1 p.m., in the Majority Caucus Room (140) of the Main Capitol.

I hope the Committee will see fit to report this bill to the full House for consideration.

Hearing on “Healthy Pennsylvania” Bills

The Senate Finance Committee will also hold a public hearing on two pieces of my “Healthy Pennsylvania” health care package:

The Finance Committee hearing will be held Wednesday, August 27, at 10 a.m. at the Lebanon County Conservation District.

Sportsmen and Agriculture Meetings Set

My Sportsmen’s Advisory Committee and my Agriculture Advisory Committee will be meeting:

E-mail Joe Sterns if you are interested in attending either meeting.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Opposition to I-80 Tolling Expressed Again

Last week I joined nine other senators in writing to Mary Peters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, to express opposition to the proposal to toll Interstate 80. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently resubmitted an application to seek federal approval to toll the route.

My fellow senators and I expressed our continued concerns about the negative economic and financial impact the proposal would have on residents and businesses in the Commonwealth, and asked Secretary Peters to carefully consider those concerns as the Department reviews the Pennsylvania application. A similar letter was sent to Secretary Peters in December 2007.

Specific concerns cited in the letter include:

Eligible Pennsylvanians Encouraged to Register to Vote Before Oct. 6 Deadline

Calling preparation the cornerstone of fair, accurate and secure elections, Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés urged eligible Pennsylvanians not to wait until the Oct. 6 deadline to register to vote in the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Registering in advance of the deadline will provide eligible Pennsylvanians ample time to complete their voter registration applications, and to receive confirmation from your local county. Voter registration applicants who do not receive their voter signature cards within 14 days of submitting an application should contact their county board of elections.

The Department of State’s interactive voter education Web site, VotesPA.com, has more information about registering to vote, as well as voter registration applications, a polling place locator, voting systems demonstration videos, absentee ballot information and a sign-up for election-related text-message reminders.

Sportsmen and Agriculture Meetings Set

My Sportsmen’s Advisory Committee and my Agriculture Advisory Committee will be meeting:

Sportsmen’s: Monday, August 25, 7 p.m., at the Lebanon Valley Sportsmen’s Association, 841 Sportsmen Road, Robesonia. Discussion topics will include: Deer herd management and LB&FC study; a proposal to increase hunting license fees; Game Commission appointments and powers (House Bill 747); pigeon shoots (Senate Bill 151 and House Bill 1543); and cross bow permits

Agriculture: Tuesday, August 26, 7:30 a.m., in the auditorium of the Berks County Ag Center building, 1238 County Welfare Road, Leesport. Discussion topics include the Governor’s Energy Initiative and its impact on Ag; raw milk update; and dog Law update.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

August 9, 2008, 4:00 PM until...
47 Krall Road, Myerstown PA 17067

RSVP to 717-228-7524

Drinks, Hot Dogs, & Hamburgers will be provided. Please bring a side dish, salad or desert to share.

See you there!
(Donations for Mike's campaign will be accepted) - Not paid for at Taxpayer Expense

2008-2009 Budget Perspective: Controlling Spending is an Ongoing Battle

The “Promise to Pennsylvania” was the foundation of my run for State Senate, and it continues to be my guiding principle – especially relating to fiscal reform. I have experienced the negotiation of two state budgets, opposing one and supporting the other.

When Governor Rendell took office in 2003, General Fund spending was around $20 billion. When I arrived in 2007, that figure ballooned to over $26 billion – a 27 percent increase in just four years, or about 7 percent growth per year.

I opposed the 2007 – 2008 state budget because it added another billion dollars to General Fund spending, marking yet another increase far in excess of the combined rates of inflation and population growth. To me, this continued recklessness was maddening, but I was the one labeled “certifiable” by the governor for opposing his spendthrift fiscal blueprint.

This year, we reached a watershed with the Governor: he agreed to compromise on a General Fund spending increase below the rate of inflation (around 4 percent). I was able to support the final budget because I believe it is a considerable step in the right direction.

We must, however, continue the battle to control state spending. We need to continually ask how to make the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars. We need to question what government programs work and which ones don’t, and take appropriate action.

We must also oppose higher taxes and fees, and need an honest assessment of the benefits and dangers of borrowing. I believe that infrastructure – especially water and sewer – is a fundamental responsibility of government. That’s why I supported legislation to authorize the borrowing of $400 million for water and sewer system repairs (the measure would need approval by voters). I also supported a measure known as H2O PA, which uses revenue generated from slot machines to repay debt incurred from enhancement to water and sewer systems, storm-water management, flood control and high-hazard dam repairs.

I was not able to support politicized borrowing initiatives, including $500 million for selected energy projects and mandated alternative fuel sources preferred by Rendell Administration environmentalists; I also could not support $2 billion in borrowing for Capital Budget and infrastructure projects.

Continued borrowing and spending increases reinforces the need for my Taxpayer Protection Act (SB 707), which would limit state spending to personal income growth or the combined rates of inflation and population growth (whichever figure is lower).

If we are ever going to cut taxes that are killing jobs and squeezing out the middle class, we must control government spending. While we made some progress this year, more needs to be done. It’s an ongoing battle.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Passes Budget Plan

With the constitutionally-mandated state budget deadline just days away (June 30), and inaction in the House of Representatives, the Senate last week sent the House Senate Bill 1389, a $28 billion spending plan for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The bill passed the Senate 28 – 21.

The proposal would increase state spending by $749 million (2.76 percent), which is 1.4 percent less than proposed by the Governor. I voted in favor of this bill since the spending increase is less than the combined rates of inflation, population growth, and income, which are provisions outlined in my Taxpayer Protection Act / Senate Bill 707.

Senate Passes Tax Stimulus Package

The Senate also passed a series of bills, which I cosponsored, designed to strengthen Pennsylvania’s jobs competitiveness:

Senate Acts to Halt Graduation Mandate

The Senate voted 48 – 2 on Senate Bill 1442, which would halt the mandated testing of high school seniors prior to receiving a diploma. I cosponsored Senate Bill 1442 because I do not believe that either the State Board of Education or the Pennsylvania Department of Education has demonstrated the cost/benefit of this plan.

Reform Bills, Including my Advertising Transparency Act, Reported from Committee

Last week the Senate State Government Committee, which I vice chair, unanimously passed my Taxpayer-Funded Advertising Transparency Act (Senate Bill 1015). The bill is designed to keep you more informed of the ways in which your tax dollars are being used. The Act, which many of my colleagues have joined as co-sponsors, would require every advertisement funded by your tax dollars to include the line “Paid for with Pennsylvania Taxpayer Dollars.” The measure now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Other reform measures that recently came out of committee include:

Legislation Would Bring Accountability to Use of State Vehicles

As part of my ongoing effort to reduce state spending, I introduced legislation that would increase accountability for the use of state vehicles by state employees. Senate Bill 1499 would:

Senate Ag Committee Addresses Chesapeake Bay Strategy Costs

The Senate Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee recently amended and unanimously approved Senate Bill 1449, which would establish the “Fair Share Nutrient Reduction Program for Farmers.”

The program would assist farmers in complying with the mandates of the Chesapeake Bay Strategy. Similar help would be provided to wastewater treatment plans under the provisions of Senate Bill 2, which I cosponsored, and which passed the Senate unanimously earlier this month.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Approves Smoking Ban

Despite my misgivings, the full Senate last week approved Senate Bill 246, a proposed statewide smoking ban bill. The vote was 41 – 9. The bill was signed by the Governor on Friday, June 13, and take effect in 90 days.

Senate Approves Infrastructure Bill

Last week the Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 2, a plan to provide $800 million in funding for critical water and sewer projects and other infrastructure needs. I am a cosponsor of the legislation that would also provide funding for storm water projects, flood control projects, and high-hazard dam repairs.
To be eligible for funding, a project must be owned by a municipality or authority, and must include local matching funds. The Commonwealth Financing Authority will evaluate applications, with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority providing technical review and assistance.

Unlike other bonding proposals, Senate Bill 2 will fund projects from existing revenues, including the Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund.

Senate Education Committee Questions Graduation Tests

The Senate Education Committee recently took action to counter the plans of State Board of Education and the Rendell Administration to mandate high school graduation tests. In January, the State Board proposed regulations that would require high school students demonstrate proficiency in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies through “Graduation Competency Assessments” or other tests. While I believe that more accountability of our education tax dollars is needed, I am concerned that $15 million price tag to implement this mandate has not been justified.

To address these concerns, the Senate Education Committee approved (10 -1) Senate Bill 1442, which would require any statewide graduation requirements be established by the General Assembly. I am a cosponsor of the legislation, which now goes to the full Senate for consideration. Click here to see how members of the Senate Education Committee voted. I look forward to the continued discussion on these tests, which are opposed by many school districts in my Senate District and across Pennsylvania.

Senate State Government Committee Questions Need for Furloughs

The Senate State Government Committee, which I serve as vice chair, recently heard from Secretary of Administration Naomi Wyatt on the Governor’s assertion that furloughs of 25,000 “non-critical” state employees are required if a budget impasse occurs after June 30. As you may remember, a one-day furlough was ordered by the Governor last year. The Committee repeatedly asked for the justification of such action under the state Constitution, state law, federal law/regulations, and/or court decisions. The answers relied on one court case (District Council 13 v. Casey) and interpretations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (which has not resulted in any fines in any other state). The Senate previously passed, by unanimous vote, Senate Bill 1122, which would stop the practice of furloughing state employees by declaring them “critical” to state service.

Health Care Plan Unveiled

I was pleased to join with my Senate colleagues to offer a health care plan designed to improve access and affordability to quality health care. HealthNET PA incorporates a number of the initiatives in my Healthy PA plan, including the creation of a state High Risk Pool and tax credits for the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Other elements of HealthNET PA include:

For additional information on HealthNET PA, please visit www.pasenategop.com.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Rejects Smoking Ban

After a lengthy debate, the full Senate last week rejected Senate Bill 246, a proposed statewide smoking ban bill. The vote was 19 – 31, and I was among the majority who opposed the measure. My concerns were with the constitutionality of the proposed ban and the exemptions that would have been allowed. Senate Bill 246, as recommended by the House/Senate Conference Committee, would have included restaurants, workplaces, mass transit, and schools. Exemptions would have included portions of casinos, small taverns with nominal food service, certain private clubs, tobacco businesses, cigar bars, and some hotel rooms. Immediately after the vote was taken, a motion was made to reconsider the vote, which means that another vote on Senate Bill 246 could be taken at some point in the future.

MH/MR Funding Approved

I was also forced to oppose legislation that would establish consistent annual support for community Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MH/MR) services. Senate Bill 1373 passed 43 – 7. I opposed this measure because it was not clear how the annual costs ($46,395,000) would be covered. Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the Governor not including needed services in his budget and hoping and/or expecting that the General Assembly will add the money. Click here to see how other members of the Senate voted on Senate Bill 1373.

Governor Shares Priorities

Given the protracted debate involved in passing last year’s state budget, members of the General Assembly have been anxious to know the Governor’s non-budget priorities for the 2008 – 2009 spending plan. The Governor recently shared his thoughts in a letter to Senate and House leaders and his priorities include:

Reapportionment Bill Tabled in Committee

A measure to change how Pennsylvania’s legislative reapportionment is conducted was considered and tabled in the Senate State Government Committee. Senate Bill 346 would bring Iowa’s reapportionment law to our Commonwealth. Committee Chairman, Senator Jeff Piccola, prepared an amendment to better integrate Pennsylvania law with Iowa procedures (which was supported by both Common Cause and the League of Women’s Voters). The committee’s Democratic Chair, Senator Anthony Williams, offered the motion to table the amendment and bill, and Senator Piccola asked Senator Williams to offer a timetable for moving forward on this issue. Senator Williams promised to do that.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Gift Ban Bill Considered

The Senate State Government Committee recently held a hearing on a proposal by Committee Chairman, Senator Jeff Piccola, that would ban gifts, hospitality, travel, and lodging from registered lobbyists to members of the General Assembly, executive branch, and their respective staffs. Similar rules have been established by Congress. A number of proposal weaknesses and unintended consequences were identified at the hearing, but I do plan to cosponsor the legislation once these issues are addressed.

The Committee also reviewed a proposed Real Property Disposition Plan of the Department of General Services relative to state-owned properties that the Commonwealth plans to sell. This legislative review is required by the Disposition of Commonwealth Surplus Land Act.

Tax Stimulus Package Introduced

I am pleased to join with a number of my Senate colleagues in sponsoring a tax stimulus package that seeks to make Pennsylvania’s economy more competitive. These bills are in addition to the Senate Republican efforts to maintain the schedule of the phase out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (the Governor has again proposed altering the schedule of this planned phase out). Preserving the phase out would inject $40 Million into Pennsylvania’s economy in 2008 – 2009; it would save job creators an additional $40 Million in both 2009 – 2010 and 2010 – 2011.

Other bills in the tax stimulus package include:

State Tax Comparisons

If you don’t think that Pennsylvania needs a tax stimulus package, consider some of the state comparisons recently released by both The Taxpayers Network and The Tax Foundation:

Save Our Homes Rally Held

On Monday I joined with more than 500 taxpayers and homeowners from across the state to rally around State Representative Sam Rohrer’s School Property Tax Elimination Act, House Bill 1275. This landmark legislation would eliminate the heavy burden of school property taxation, while transitioning Pennsylvania to a broader-based state Sales Tax at the same rate of 6 percent. Property Tax elimination is a central part of my Promise to Pennsylvania.

Senate Returns to Session

The State Senate returned to Session this week and will be in Session on a regular basis until the 2008 – 2009 state budget is passed – hopefully by the Constitutional-mandated deadline of June 30. Scheduled session days are: June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 30. Click here to watch the Senate when it is in Session.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

This weekend many of us will gather with family and friends to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday. Memorial Day – or “Decoration Day” as it was originally called – was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. The day was first observed on May 30, 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1971, Congress made Memorial Day part of the National Holiday Act, which establishes three day weekends for federal holidays. In observance of the holiday, all state offices will be closed on Monday, May 26, and the Senate will return to voting Session on Monday, June 2. I wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday, and encourage you to remember those who sacrificed their lives’ for the freedoms we have today.

Blues’ Merger Hearings Planned

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department is planning a series of public hearings on the planned merger of Highmark and Independence Blue Cross. These hearings will provide consumers and other interested parties an opportunity to voice their opinions on the potential impact the proposed merger may have on the healthcare marketplace. A public hearing will be held at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 10, at the Harrisburg Hilton and Towers, One North Second Street, Harrisburg. Meetings will also be held in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. For more information about the hearings, to pre-register or submit written comments, visit the Pennsylvania Insurance Department website.

Before you hit the roads this holiday weekend visit PennDOT’s website to view road construction in the 48th Senatorial District. Also, when on your travels, if you see a road or bridge that needs repair call 1-800-FIX-ROAD (1-800-349-7623).

Aviation Scholarships Available

Scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 are available through the Aviation Council of Pennsylvania to state residents interested in an aviation career. For more detailed information about the scholarships, including an application, visit www.acpfly.com. The application deadline is August 1, 2008.

Reminder: Don’t forget my next Town Hall meeting: 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 28, at the West Lawn Community Center, 101 Woodside Avenue, West Lawn.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Threatened Gubernatorial Veto Delays Smoking Ban Bill

The Conference Committee to iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of Senate Bill 246 was expected to report out a compromise plan so deliberations could once again take place on a proposed statewide smoking ban. However, the Governor threatened a veto of a compromise plan in order to maintain preemption of local ordinances (some of which could be stricter than state law). This threat complicated the process and resulted in the Committee neither meeting nor issuing a report for the House and Senate to consider. The Governor specifically cited Philadelphia’s smoke-free law as a reason why he would veto the bill.

Judicial Nominations Rejected

This week the Senate rejected, by a vote of 24 – 26, four of Governor Rendell’s appeals court nominees. The Governor had been previously asked to work with the Senate on these nominations in accordance with the State Constitution, which states: “A vacancy in the office of justice, judge or justice of the peace shall be filled by appointment by the Governor. The appointment shall be with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the members elected to the Senate except in the case of justices of the peace which shall be by a majority.” I joined with a majority of my Senate colleagues in opposing these nominations because I believe the authors of the Constitution clearly intended “advice” to mean something. Click here to see how the members of the Senate voted on these important nominations.

Senate Hearing on Graduation Tests

The Senate Education Committee held a hearing on the proposed Graduation Competency Assessments which every high school senior would be required to pass in order to receive a diploma. This plan is supported by the State Board of Education and by the Rendell Administration. It is opposed by a number of groups, including many school districts in the 48th Senatorial District. During the hearing, proponents admitted that many high school graduates lack the necessary skills for either college or the workforce despite the billions of dollars that are spent annually on public education. My concern is that before placing any additional costs or mandates on schools, the Commonwealth should assess existing programs and spending to determine what is working and what is not so tax moneys can be better spent. It has been estimated that the cost of developing and administering the GCA tests will be an additional $160 million over five years.

Taxpayer Transparency Act Introduced

I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Pat Browne, in introducing Senate Bill 1350, the Taxpayer Transparency Act. Senate Bill 1350 would require a searchable budget data-driven website that would be open to the public to obtain:

Senate Bill 1350 was reported from the Senate Finance Committee and subsequently re-referred to the Appropriations Committee. I look forward to its consideration by the full Senate.

Funding Infrastructure Needs

As I work to help bring state spending under control, I regularly see examples of how the Commonwealth does a poor job of setting priorities. Infrastructure needs are a good example: roads, bridges, water, and sewer facilities. For this reason, I am cosponsoring Senate Bill 2, which would provide $750 Million in funding for critical water and sewer projects, storm water projects, flood control projects, and high-hazard dam repairs. Unlike other bonding proposals, Senate Bill 2 will fund projects from existing revenues: the Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development and Tourism Fund. Senate Bill 2 also requires local matching funds of at least 50% of a project’s cost.

Don’t forget these upcoming events. All meetings begin at 7 p.m.

Berks-Area Town Hall Meetings - Tuesday, May 20, Spring Township Fire Company, West Lawn (joint meeting with Rep. Cox) and Wednesday, May 28, West Lawn Community Center, 101 Woodside Avenue, West Lawn.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Bill Addressing Child Custody Proceedings During Military Deployment Passes Senate

I am pleased that my Senate Bill 1107 unanimously passed the Senate. Senate Bill 1107 protects the child custody rights of deployed military personnel by freezing custody arrangements while military personnel are deployed. Once soldiers return home, any disputes between parents may continue as before deployment. While there are other issues of child custody that need to be addressed, passage of Senate Bill1107 is an important step - fighting for your country should not result in losing custody of your children.

Changes to Earned Income Tax Collection

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 1063, legislation that would change how the Earned Income Tax (EIT) is collected. The bill passed by a vote of 41 – 8. While I support the concept of streamlined tax collection because I believe that it will save tax dollars, I was also concerned that centralized collection at the county level would not fit into existing efficiencies within the 48th Senatorial District. For this reason, I supported an amendment offered by Senator Regola, which would have given municipalities the option of centralized collection at either the county or the school district level. However, that amendment failed by a vote of 8 – 41. Click here to see how members of the Senate voted on this amendment and click here to see how Senators voted on final passage of Senate Bill 1063.

This bill will be among a number of issues that I will be discussing at my first Local Government Roundtable, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 15, at HACC’s Lebanon Campus, 735 Cumberland Street. Contact Beth Williams in my office to register.

Policy Committee Hearing on Affordability of Health Care

This week I had the opportunity to be the lead witness at the Senate Republican Policy Committee’s hearing on the affordability of health care. Click here for a copy of my testimony, as well as the testimony of other witnesses who appeared before the Committee. The witnesses include Rick Dreyfuss, The Commonwealth Foundation; Gary Swan, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; Gene Barr, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry; Kevin Shivers, National Federation of Independent Business; Vince Phillips, PA Assoc. of Health Underwriters; Julie Martin, Teaman-Martin Associates; Raymond Doreian, The TriniCore Company; Sam Marshall, Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania; Roger Mecum, Pennsylvania Medical Society; Carolyn Scanlan, Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania; and Mike Murray, Capital Blue Cross.

Important Committee Meetings Cancelled

To my disappointment, the Conference Committee meeting on Senate Bill 246 (smoking ban bill) and the State Government Committee meeting to discuss Senate Bill 137 (proposed amendment to state Constitution authorizing the use of initiative and referendum as powers to the people), were not held this week. I am hopeful that they will be rescheduled soon.

Berks-Area Town Hall Meetings Scheduled

Attention residents of West Lawn and surrounding areas...please plan to join me and State Representative Jim Cox for a joint town hall meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, at the Spring Township Fire Company, 2301 Monroe Ave, in West Lawn. Rep. Cox and I will give an update on important legislative issues in Harrisburg, including the state budget, and property taxes, as well as field your specific questions and concerns. If you are unable to make the meeting on the 20th, I’ll be hosting another town hall meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28, at the West Lawn Community Center.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Truckers’ Woes Go Well Beyond Fuel Costs

A convoy of concerned truckers recently traveled to Harrisburg to draw attention to the economic woes they face as the cost of diesel fuel continues to skyrocket.

I had the opportunity to meet with some of these truckers, and I was surprised to learn that the cost of diesel is just one of the many issues they face. Taxes, tolls, and fees – such as sales taxes, tire and utility taxes, and registration fees – all eat into their bottom line. Truck tires, which can cost around $400 each, and health care and government imposed mandates also represent additional costs.

Other headaches for truckers are state (and local) regulations. Independent truckers believe they are given special attention and are singled out for enforcement – some would even say harassment. “If you’re stopped, you’re all but guaranteed to be cited for something – even if it’s picayune,” said one trucker.
Trucks are the backbone of our economy. Almost anything that you buy or use is delivered by a truck: the food you eat, the clothes you wear, and the products you consume. Many of the costs truckers face cannot be passed along. Many would be out of business if they lost just one week of work. The future is bleak.

I believe solutions to many trucker problems lie with the federal government, such as not using tax moneys to subsidize other businesses (i.e., creating winners and losers), establishing national transportation and energy policies, and ensuring consistency in taxes and regulations. I believe there are also a number of things we can do on the state level to ease the burdens truckers face. A big first step would be cutting government red tape. Like other segments of our economy, truckers need government to “get off their back…” inspectors need to know the rules and to apply them with common sense (for example, having one cab light out of 106 should not be a $275 fine).

We also need to make sure state government doesn’t make things worse for the trucking industry. That’s why I have been asking questions about the proposed sale of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It’s also why I voted against the tolling of Interstate 80. Before we add any additional transportation costs, we need to look at how we are presently spending money to address transportation needs.

While much of this begins with the cost of fuel, it goes well beyond fuel costs. The next time you are in a grocery store, think about what it takes to get that loaf of bread, gallon on milk or head of lettuce to you. Then, ask yourself, what would I do if the cost to deliver this item increased because of a rise in fuel costs? For truckers, the answer all too often is to eat the cost.

Primary Election Day

Please note that all Senate offices will be closed Tuesday, April 22nd for the Primary Election. Please be sure to exercise your Constitutional rights by voting!

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

“Housekeeping” Appropriations Pass Senate

The Senate passed a number of “housekeeping” bills that provide funding for various state agencies and offices. I was forced to oppose two of theses bills (Senate Bill 1345 and Senate Bill 1347) since they exceeded the spending limits of my “Taxpayer Protection Act” (Senate Bill 707). If Senate Bill 707 were law today, state spending for 2008 – 2009 would be limited to 3.29% maximum (nearly $900 Million more). Here are the “Preferred Appropriations” bills, what they fund, the Senate approved budget amounts, and the increases from last year:

Strengthening Eligibility Requirements for Public Benefits

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 9 (39 – 10), which would require proof of citizenship for public benefits. There have been questions whether illegal aliens, who do not pay taxes, have been receiving taxpayer financed benefits. Senate Bill 9 would strengthen eligibility requirements by requiring applicants to provide proper identification and sign an affidavit stating that he or she is a US citizen, a legal permanent resident, or is otherwise lawfully present under federal law. The following are the forms of identification that would be required if the bill becomes law:

· A valid driver’s license or identification card issued by PennDOT;
· A valid identification card issued by any other Commonwealth agency;
· A valid identification card issued by the US government, another state, or Canada;
· A valid US passport;
· A valid US armed forces ID card, or;
· A valid form of identification listed by the Attorney General.

Click here to see how members of the Senate voted.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment Passes Senate

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 822 (33 – 17), which would amend Pennsylvania’s Constitution to change the succession of the Lieutenant Governor by allowing a Lieutenant Governor who assumes the governorship to name a new Lieutenant Governor upon confirmation by a majority vote of the Senate. The goal of this change is to address questions that arose when former Governor Tom Ridge resigned to become the head of the US Department of Homeland Security and Lieutenant Governor Mark Schweiker became Governor and former Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer became Lieutenant Governor while retaining his Senate seat. In order to make this constitutional change, it must pass the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and then both the Senate and the House would need to pass identical legislation again next Session and then the measure would have to be approved by the voters in a Primary or General Election.

Click here to see how members of the Senate voted.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Mike's Memo - Week of April 7, 2008
04/07/08

Conference Committee Takes No Action on Smoking Ban Bill

The House/Senate Conference Committee for Senate Bill 246 met but took no action on plans to impose a smoking ban in public facilities and workplaces. The Committee adjourned until April 29th. Members of the Committee are: Senators Greenleaf, McIlhinney, and Mellow and Representatives Belfanti, Gerber, and Miller.

I had to vote “no” on the Capital Budget, House Bill 1589, because of potential or actual new state spending and/or borrowing, including:

I was proud to join with Senator Piccola and Representative Reichley and other Senate and House colleagues in cosponsoring a legislative package that addresses a number of weaknesses in Pennsylvania’s gaming law. The following are among the proposed changes:

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Returns to Voting Session

The Senate returns to Session today after recessing for the Easter holiday. Click here for a copy of the Senate Calendar. And, don’t forget that you can watch the Senate while we are in Session. Click here for a link.

Smoking Ban Update

A number of you have asked about the status of Senate Bill 246, which would impose a smoking ban in public facilities and workplaces. Different versions of a smoking ban were passed by both the House and Senate and a Conference Committee was appointed to try to work out the differences. While I have concerns with imposing yet another mandate on private facilities, I would like to see the recommended proposal from the Conference Committee, whose members are Senators Greenleaf, McIlhinney, and Mellow and Representatives Belfanti, Gerber, and Ron Miller. The Conference Committee is scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 1st.

The Results are In

Here are the results from my recent online survey on ways to eliminate property taxes. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond! I will be using this input to develop a plan to eliminate school property taxes:

The most popular requested Sales Tax exemptions were:

Those who did not favor using the Sales Tax to eliminate property taxes recommended using the Personal Income Tax (4%), increasing the rate of the Sales Tax (2%), and/or relying upon the Earned Income Tax (1%).

Town Hall Meeting

You are cordially invited to attend my next Town Hall Meeting, which will be held @ 7:00 p.m., this Thursday (April 3rd) in the Ono Fire Hall, 10805 Jonestown Road.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

The Senate recently unanimously passed a number of bills that would change how mortgage foreclosures are conducted:

Additional Hearing on Chesapeake Bay Strategy

The Senate Policy Committee held another hearing on the Commonwealth’s Chesapeake Bay Strategy, which will require sewage treatment plants to upgrade technologies by 2010 and encourages farms to reduce runoff into streams. U.S. Senator Arlen Specter was the featured guest and he was asked by Committee members to work to push back the 2010 compliance date and to ensure that sound science is part of any decision-making. In the weeks ahead I will be contacting treatment plants in the 48th district to get their opinions of this issue.

Child Custody Bill Slated for Committee Review

My Senate Bill 1107, which would clarify child custody rights for military personnel who are deployed out-of-slate, is slated to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee @ 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 18th in Room 8E-B of the East Wing of the Capitol. Click here for additional background information.

Reporting Potholes and Other Road Problems

Here’s a sign of Spring…PennDOT recently announced its toll-free hotline for reporting potholes and other road problems: 1-800-FIX-ROAD. Besides pothole reporting, missing highway signs, high shoulder drop-offs, roadway washouts, and other potential hazards can be reported throughout the year.

My office has been receiving a steady stream of responses to my online survey on plans to eliminate school property taxes. If you haven’t already responded, please take a few moments to do so by visiting my website and answering three short questions:

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

A key component of my “Promise to Pennsylvania” is to eliminate property taxes. This is an aggressive goal, mainly because of the task of finding appropriate replacement revenues needed to eliminate these onerous taxes. I know most homeowners find escalating school property taxes to be their biggest headache. That’s why I believe is it imperative we enact a plan to eliminate these taxes once and for all.

To totally eliminate property taxes, approximately $16 billion ($10 billion for school property taxes and $6 billion for municipal property taxes) in replacement revenues would be needed. These replacement revenues could come from four other tax sources: Personal Income Tax (PIT); Earned Income Tax (EIT); Sales and Use Tax; or other (new) tax.

When I took office, I signed a “no tax pledge”, so I am unable to support the creation of any new taxes to replace local property taxes. The last time the legislature used this approach, was in the 1960’s, with the creation of Act 511, known more commonly as “nuisance taxes”.

While I do not like that I do not like any taxes, I am particularly troubled by taxes on income, because I don’t believe we should tax people’s productivity; that’s why I do not favor the PIT or EIT to replace property taxes.

I believe the best approach to generate replacement revenues for property taxes is the sales tax. By using the sales tax, people have increased control over the tax; more people pay the sales taxes than property taxes; and sales tax is paid with each purchase, as opposed to larger, annual bills, like property taxes.

There are two ways the sales tax can be used to replace property taxes. One option is to expand the base to include items not presently taxed (such as a tax on food, clothing, prescriptions, candy and gum, personal hygiene products, newspapers, magazines, and amusements, just to name a few). Click here for a more detailed list of items that might be taxed in order to eliminate school property taxes.

To see how you would fair under this option, look at the chart below and compare what you now pay in property taxes to what you would need to spend under an expanded sales tax.

If your property taxes are now ............You would need to pay this in Sales Tax*

............$1,000 ................................................$16,667
............$2,000................................................ $33,333
............$3,000 ................................................$49,999
............$4,000 ................................................$66,667
............$5,000 ................................................$83,333
............$6,000 ................................................$99,999
............$7,000 ................................................$116,667
............$8,000 ................................................$133,333
............$9,000 ................................................$149,999
............$10,000......................................//.......$166,667

.....................................................................*before you are a net “loser”

Another way the sales tax can be used to replace property tax revenues is to increase the rate from the current 6 percent to a higher rate. Each 1 percent increase in the sales tax nets approximately $1.4 billion.

Perhaps the most taxed about elimination plan offered to date is House Bill 1275, sponsored by Representative Sam Rohrer. Its basic premise is to expand the base of the sales tax, but unfortunately, the Rohrer plan recently failed to pass in the House. House Bill 1275 was a far-reaching plan that would have eliminated property taxes over five years. The plan called for the elimination of school taxes
($10 Billion); municipal property taxes ($6 Billion); and assumed school debts, with a total estimated impact of $25 billion.

Under Rohrer’s plan, replacement revenues would come from the sales tax, along with a .85 percent change in the PIT (from 3.07 to 3.92 percent); a 6 percent school hotel occupancy tax; and a .5 percent realty transfer tax. These changes would have been implemented to exempt food and clothing from taxes.

With the defeat of Rohrer’s plan in the House, I want to develop a simpler, more focused approach that doesn’t create new taxes, but just expands the base of the sales tax.

I would like to get your thoughts on this issue. On my website is a brief survey about expanding the sales tax in exchange for elimination of school property taxes.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Folmer Pushes For “Citizens’ Convention”
03/04/08 - (By RICHARD FELLINGER, Staff Writer, Lebanon Daily News)

HARRISBURG — Lebanon County Sen. Mike Folmer has started a new push for the state’s first constitutional convention in four decades. Folmer sponsored a bill that would allow 150 ordinary citizens to decide on changes to the state’s fundamental laws. It’s the latest call for a constitutional convention since the aborted legislative pay raise of 2005 focused newfound attention on how the state works.

Lawmakers have debated and held hearings on the issue in the past year but have quarreled over several matters relating to calling one. There’s no agreement on who should serve on a convention, what issues it should address and what steps should be taken to initiate it.

The Constitution can be amended when a proposal clears both legislative chambers in two consecutive terms and is ratified by voters in a statewide referendum.

Backers of a constitutional convention say that’s the best way to make systematic government changes such as term limits, redistricting reform and a smaller legislature. Folmer said he also wants to see changes in the state’s pension and property-tax systems written into the Constitution.
“We’re talking about things that a majority of people would like to see happen tomorrow,” he said.

Some political observers are very skeptical about a constitutional convention being called.

Political scientist Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College, for one, said the chances of a constitutional convention now are “zero and none.” Besides sticking points such as who should serve on a convention, Madonna said it will be tough to convince lawmakers to surrender control on matters that affect them.

Because the Constitution says nothing about how to hold one, all four conventions since 1790 were initiated by the Legislature. The last was in 1967-68.

Folmer’s bill calls for a statewide referendum in November’s general election on whether to hold a constitutional convention.

If approved, voters would elect three delegates from each of the state’s 50 Senate districts. Folmer, who likes to refer to himself as “Citizen Mike,” calls it a “citizens’ constitutional convention.”

Lawmakers and lobbyists would be barred from participating, and the party affiliation of prospective delegates would not be listed on the ballot.

The bill would allow delegates to consider changes to any section of the Constitution except the Declaration of Rights, which declares rights such as religious freedom, free speech and trial by jury.

Folmer’s bill is co-sponsored by State Government Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin/York, but other key senators are not on board.

Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, believes the existing process for amending the Constitution works when there is enough support for a proposal, spokesman Erik Arneson said. He cited a plan to eliminate post-election voting sessions known as “lame duck” sessions, which has cleared the Senate and is pending in the House.

“We don’t see a compelling reason for a constitutional convention,” Arneson said.

Following Truman’s Example

As I tackle my second state budget, I continue to focus on controlling state spending as outlined in my “Taxpayer Protection Act” (SB 707), which would limit annual spending increases to a combination of population growth and inflation. If my bill were law today, this year’s budget growth would be a maximum of 3.29 percent (or $888 million), compared to a 4.2 percent increase ($1.13 billion) proposed by Governor Rendell.

Last year’s budget battle had a frustrated Governor calling people names: “What these imbeciles don’t understand is that most cost drivers in a budget, you don’t control.” He called me “certifiable” because I was unable to support his spending plans.

Since that time, I have paid close attention to how the state spends tax dollars, and now, I am even more convinced it is not how MUCH we spend, it is HOW we spend. Frankly, we just don’t prioritize. It’s like Christmas when your kids or grandkids want 40 things, but you can only afford four. You don’t love them any less by limiting what they want, you’re just living within your means. State government needs to do the same.

Fortunately, history provides us with good examples of government stewards. One of the best is U.S. Senator Harry Truman. As the United States was about to be drawn in to fighting in Europe and Asia, Senator Truman began to examine how billions of tax dollars were being spent on defense contracts. Soon, the “Truman Committee” found ways to save millions of dollars on programs without compromising our national defense.

We have similar opportunities to probe how state dollars are being spent. Last year, the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Communications & Technology Committee held a joint hearing on Classrooms for the Future, a program that funds laptops and related services for school districts. Allocations for the program were $20 million last year, $90 million this year, and a proposed $90 million for next year.
While proponents say Classrooms for the Future will improve public education, others have raised questions about it. At the same time the effectiveness of the program is being questioned, other education initiatives are being overlooked. For example, three alternative education projects (Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Lebanon) were curtailed and/or cut; from $43 million last year, to $17.5 million this year, to zero next year.

In my ongoing efforts to ensure we are squeezing every penny from each tax dollar, I asked how Lebanon’s alternative education program was impacting test scores. The answer? Math scores improved almost 50 percent and reading scores improved almost 40 percent. Should this program be continued? Should it be cut? Can it operate with less state money?

Which program is more deserving of tax dollars…laptops in the classroom or alternative education programs? Is it possible to fund both? Should both even be funded? Should one be cut in favor of the other?

To answer these questions, I believe we should follow Senator Truman’s example by asking tough questions before appropriating any tax moneys for state programs.

“Best Places to Work” Competition Launched

Team Pennsylvania recently announced it is taking nominations for their 2008 list of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania. The 2008 Best Places competition is a public/private partnership among Team Pennsylvania Foundation; the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED); the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry; and the Central Penn Business Journal. For eligibility requirements or to nominate a business, visit www.bestplacestoworkinpa.com.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Constitutional Convention Bill Introduced

I recently introduced Senate Bill 1290, my plan for a citizen’s Constitutional Convention. The bill is similar to Senator Piccola’s Senate Bill 1236 (of which I am a cosponsor), but my bill would not allow elected officials to serve as delegates to a constitutional convention. Senate Bill 1290 is currently being considered by the Senate State Government Committee.

“Tax Me More Fund” Introduced

My “Tax Me More Fund” legislation was also assigned a bill number: Senate Bill 1292. The “Tax Me More Fund” is modeled after a 2001 Arkansas law, and will serve as an alternative to tax increases and budget cuts. I believe the approach lets people speak for themselves - if you consider yourself under-taxed, feel free to donate to the fund; as the Governor and legislative leaders call for higher taxes as part of the budget, I’ll ask them to write their check to the Commonwealth. This proposal was referred to the Senate Finance Committee on February 20, 2008.

Chesapeake Bay Strategy Reviewed

The Senate Majority Policy Committee recently held a public meeting to review the Commonwealth’s Chesapeake Bay Strategy. The strategy requires sewage treatment plants to upgrade technologies by 2010 and encourages farms to reduce runoff into streams. Estimated costs of compliance run from several hundred million dollars to well over $1 Billion.

Deer Herd Management Audit

At my recent Sportsmen’s Advisory Committee meeting, continued concern was expressed over the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer herd management practices. Phil Durgin, executive director of the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, discussed a possible audit of this program. I believe an audit is the first and best step in answering the many questions that have been raised. I have pressed for, and will continue to seek, such an audit.

Unemployment Compensation Costs

Attendees at my recent Business Advisory Committee meeting heard from Eileen Melvin, one of three members of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Board of Review. Ms. Melvin said employers seeking to better control unemployment compensation costs should consider establishing employee policies, making sure these policies are known to employees, enforcing their policies in both an equitable and timely manner, and appearing at hearings (with people having first-hand knowledge of events).

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Passes Open Records Update – Again

The Senate again unanimously passed Senate Bill 1, which would change Pennsylvania’s Open Records Law. Senate consideration was required again after amendments were added by the House of Representatives to address some technical issues and to provide some clarifications, including:

Senate Committee Acts to Restrict Benefits to Illegal Aliens

The State Government Committee recently amended and reported out Senate Bill 9 to the full Senate for consideration. I both cosponsored this bill and supported moving it to the Senate floor for consideration because I am concerned about the use of tax dollars to pay for benefits to illegal aliens living in Pennsylvania. Click here to see how other members of the Senate State Government Committee voted on Senate Bill 9. I was promised this bill will be sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee for additional amendment and calculation of a fiscal note as I do not want this initiative to be an unfunded mandate for counties or other governmental agencies.

PCN Call-In Show Rescheduled

My planned PCN appearance with Representative Sturla on health care has been rescheduled for 7:00 p.m., Monday, March 3. Representative Sturla was unable to participate since the House was in Session debating amendments to the Open Records law.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

The big news in Harrisburg is the Governor’s 2008-2009 proposed state budget, which calls for a 4.2 percent ($1.13 billion) spending increase. Since taking office, Governor Rendell has increased state spending by nearly $7 billion. If my “Taxpayer Protection Act,” Senate Bill 707, was law today, spending for the upcoming fiscal year would be limited to a maximum increase of 3.29 percent or $888 million. Highlights of the Governor’s budget request include:

- Cigarettes and other tobacco products
- Flood insurance premiums
- Assessments on employers who do not provide health care insurance
- Slowing the planned phase out of the Capital Stock-Franchise Tax

Protect our Progress – A plan to provide up to $400 in rebates to certain households. Program would be funded through $130 million in borrowing from the state’s Rainy Day Fund

- Flood mitigation - $100 million
- Cover All Pennsylvanians universal health care, and The Jonas Salk Legacy Fund - $500 million

- Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program (RCAP) - $750 million
- Commonwealth Financing Authority - $100 million
- Education

The Governor recently released a report that supposedly measures how our tax dollars are spent. The entire report is available at www.state.pa.us. Although I have not had the opportunity to review the report in detail, I did find some of the information interesting, including:

From April 1, 2000, to July 1, 2006, Pennsylvania’s population grew 1.3 percent (nationally, population grew 6.4 percent). Over the same period, Pennsylvania’s state budget grew by over 30 percent ($19.86 billion to $26 billion). With a flat population, why would spending increase that much;

From 2004 to 2006, public school enrollment decreased about 1 percent (from 1.83 million in 04-05 to 1.81 in 06-07. Over the same period, spending for Pre-K through grade 12 increased by more than 17 percent ($4.2 billion to $4.95 billion);

Pennsylvania’s top 10 employers are the state and federal governments (including military, Penn State University and State System of Higher Education schools); Wal-Mart; the City of Philadelphia; the School District of Philadelphia; University of Pennsylvania; Giant Foods Stores; United Parcel Service (UPS); and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. More than half of the state’s top employers are either government or government-related entities;

Economic stimulus programs through June 30, 2007, spent over $2.5 billion on 2,450 state projects (an average of more than $1 million per project) to create 250,051 jobs, or $10,322 in tax dollars for each “job” created;

If Pennsylvania is creating new jobs as the Governor claims, why have new unemployment compensation claims remained about the same each of the last 3 years - 626,954 in 2004, 601,143 in 2006, and 606,091 in 2007?

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Bill 1, which would change Pennsylvania’s Open Records Law, unanimously passed the Senate last week. The measure now goes to the House for consideration. The revised law would:

Senate Bill 1 would also make important changes for obtaining public records in Pennsylvania, including:

The Senate State Government Committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 820, which would amend the Telemarketer Registration Act to prohibit the use of an automatic dialing-announcing device (so-called “robo-calls”) made on behalf of political candidates, committees, organizations, or parties. This change would allow people signed up for Pennsylvania’s “Do Not Call” list to add taped calls from candidates, special interest groups, and campaign committees to the list of calls they do not want to receive. The proposal was re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further review and consideration.

On February 5, Governor Rendell will outline his state spending plan for the 2008 – 2009 Fiscal Year. You can watch the Governor’s Budget Address live by clicking Live Senate Feed and also, you may view my thoughts and comments on his spending plan by going to my website.

Sportsmen’s Advisory Committee – 6 p.m., Tuesday, February 19, Palmyra Sportsmen’s Association.

Featured speakers: Phil Durgin, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee and Gail Reinard, Executive Director of the Senate Game and Fisheries Committee, will discuss the planned study of deer management and other issues of interest. Contact my office to RSVP.

Business Advisory Committee – 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, February 20, Soup Thyme, Lebanon (located past Coleman’s Park on Route 72)

Featured speaker: Eileen Melvin, member of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, will discuss Unemployment Compensation cost control. Other business-related and legislative topics will also be discussed. Sponsorships for the event are available! Contact my office to RSVP or for sponsorship information.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Tax Me More Fund Proposed

Next month Governor Rendell will make his state budget recommendations and the General Assembly will begin to work on a spending plan for the 2008-2009 Fiscal Year. I’m sure the Governor will have his usual litany of spending requests, such as $75 million for Hollywood millionaires to produce movies in Pennsylvania, and tens of millions of dollars for government agencies to advertise themselves. After voting “no” on my first budget last year (one of two Senators to cast a no vote), I come into this year with valuable experience and knowledge.

With our current state budget of $27.16 billion, the Commonwealth is spending nearly $75 million a day. That breaks down to more than:

$3 million an hour
$51,000 a minute
$861 per second

I think spending nearly $1,000 per second is a lot of money. I also believe that borrowing is not a legacy we want to leave our children and grandchildren. Debt service is now almost $1 billion per year (more than 3 percent of the budget).

When I took office last year, the first bill I introduced was the Taxpayer Protection Act (SB 707) which would limit state spending to the lesser of the combined rates of inflation and population growth or the rate of personal income growth. I believe that controlling spending is the only way we can cut the taxes that are hurting job creation and squeezing out the middle class.

Although many people agree that spending must be controlled, there are some who actually believe government is not spending enough and believe we should raise taxes to pay for their pet programs. As the Commonwealth collects $110 million a day, you can’t tell me we need more money. While families budget their income and limit their spending, government does just the opposite: it figures out what it wants, and then finds ways for you to pay for it!

Just in time for budget negotiations, I plan to introduce a bill specifically designed for those who call for higher taxes and increased spending. The “Tax Me More Fund” is modeled after a 2001 Arkansas law, and will serve as an alternative to tax increases and budget cuts. I believe the approach lets people speak for themselves - if you consider yourself under-taxed, feel free to donate to the fund; as the Governor and legislative leaders call for higher taxes as part of the budget, I’ll ask them to write their check to the Commonwealth.

Meanwhile, for those of us who believe in living within our means and who are simply tired of government wasting $75 million a day, I’ll continue to push for the Taxpayer Protection Act.

Show your support for Senator Folmer’s Taxpayer Protection Act! Visit www.senatorfolmer.com and sign the online petition.

Senate Sessions on the Web

Whether it is a regularly scheduled session day or the Governor’s budget address, you can catch all the action live on my website, www.senatorfolmer.com and click the Live Senate Feed icon. Please be sure to check the date and time of next session information on the page so you’re not looking at a blank screen on non-session days!

For more information on these issues, and information on other legislative and state topics, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us. If you are unable to open the bill links, please feel free to go directly to the Pennsylvania General Assembly website.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Senate Session Days

Article II of the Pennsylvania Constitution outlines the powers and terms of the Legislature: “the General Assembly shall be a continuing body during the term for which its Representatives are elected.” Members of the Senate and House “shall be chosen at the general election every second year.” That means that every House seat and half of the Senate will be up for election in 2008.

Terms of office “shall begin on the first day of December next after their election.” The first day of session for both chambers is also set by the Constitution: “It shall meet at twelve o'clock noon on the first Tuesday of January each year.” Here are the other scheduled Senate session days for the first six months of 2008:

January: 14, 15, 16, 28, 29, and 30
February: 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12
March: 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 31
April: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 28, 29, and 30
May: 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21
June: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 30

The state constitution (Article VII, Section 12) requires that “the Governor shall submit to the General Assembly . . . A balanced operating budget for the ensuing fiscal year setting forth in detail (i) proposed expenditures classified by department or agency and by program and (ii) estimated revenues from all sources.”

The General Assembly is also charged with passing a balanced budget: “Operating budget appropriations made by the General Assembly shall not exceed the actual and estimated revenues and surplus available in the same fiscal year.”

The Governor will make his budget recommendations in an address to the full General Assembly in early February. Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees will hold hearings on the Governor’s budget plan in February and March.

Senate Sessions on the Web

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Foster Care Rights Bill Signed into Law

In mid-December Governor Rendell signed my Senate Bill 1156 into law as Act 76 of 2007. The law, which took effect January 1, 2008, gives foster parents the right to be heard at court hearings regarding the future of children under their care. The measure also provides that a court must find out the views of a foster child regarding placement, in a manner appropriate to the child’s age and maturity. The legislation brings Pennsylvania into compliance with the federal Child and Family Services Improvement Act prior to the deadline of January 1, 2008, saving the state $3 million.

REAL ID Assigned to Committee

My Senate Bill 1220, which would exempt Pennsylvania from complying with the provisions of the federal ID Act, has been assigned to the Senate Communications and Technology Committee.

2008-2009 Budget Target

If my Senate Bill 707, the “Taxpayer Protection Act” were law today, spending for the 2008-2009 state budget would be limited to a maximum of 3.29 percent (approximately $888 million in new spending). The Taxpayer Protection Act limits spending to a combination of inflation, population growth, and personal income growth. Given the fact that revenue growth for the first half of the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year showed that tax collections were $176 million (1.5 percent) over estimates, I think it is safe to say that Pennsylvania’s taxpayers continue to be generous in supporting the operations of state government. December's taxes and fees were $40 million over estimates for the month. The Governor is set to outline his 2008-2009 budget priorities early next month.

Digital TV Changes

By federal law, television stations nationwide must switch from the old method of transmitting TV signals – known as “analog to digital television” (DTV) – on February 17, 2009. Millions of households will risk losing television reception unless they take steps to receive a digital signal. For more information on this topic visit DTVanswers.com.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you. I can be reached through e-mail, mfolmer@pasen.gov, or at any one of my district offices.

Wishing you and your family happiness and joy this holiday season and throughout the coming year!

Legislative Update

Here is an update on some of the bills that I have sponsored during my first year in the State Senate:

Senate Bill 707, Taxpayer Protection Act

Status: Reported out of the Senate Finance Committee (6-2). Click here to see how Finance committee members voted. Re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Senate Bill 709, eliminates the positions of Elective Assessors in Townships of the First Class

Passed the Senate (49-0) Referred to the House Local Government Committee and reported out (27-1). Click here to see how members of the House Local Government Committee voted. Re-referred to the House Appropriations Committee.

Senate Bill 805, requires an annual report on the Educational Assistance Program

Passed the full Senate (43-2) Currently in the House Education Committee.

Senate Bill 978, increases the prize limits of bingo games from $4,000 per day to $8,000 per day

Unanimously reported from the Senate Finance Committee, re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee

Senate Bill 1015, Taxpayer Funded Advertising Transparency Act

Referred to the Senate State Government Committee (a public hearing has been requested)

Senate Bill 1036, police powers at military installations

Unanimously reported from the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, and re-reported to the Senate Appropriations Committee

Senate Bill 1081, increases bid requirements for public building construction from $4,000 to $25,000

Referred to the Senate Labor and Industry Committee

Senate Bill 1107, child custody rights for military personnel on active duty

Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

Senate Bill 1156, establish rights for foster parents and foster children

Unanimously passed both the Senate and House; awaiting the Governor’s signature

Senate Bill 1160, increased penalties for possession of stolen firearms

Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

Senate Bill 1220, exempt Pennsylvania from having to comply with the federal REAL ID Act

Not yet referred to a committee...not yet posted on the internet

Senate Bills 1181 to 1196, “Healthy Pennsylvania”, a series of bills to reduce health care costs, improve quality, and enhance accessibility

Click here to check individual bills and the status of each

Looking Ahead To 2008

The Senate returns for “token Session” on January 1, 2008. Voting Sessions will commence January 14, 2008.

Stay tuned to Mike’s Memo for dates and times of various town hall meetings and advisory committee meetings.

For further information on these issues, and for information on other legislative and state topics, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you: mfolmer@pasen.gov; 877-222-1897 (toll free).

The next edition of Mike’s Memo will be Monday, January 7, 2008.

Foster Care Rights Bill Passes Senate

The full Senate unanimously passed my Senate Bill 1156, which would give foster parents the right to be heard at court hearings regarding the future of children under their care. It would also require that courts seek the views of foster children in matters relating to their placement. The latter requirement would be accomplished in a manner appropriate to the child’s age and maturity. Senate Bill 1156 was sent to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration and was subsequently reported out unanimously. Click here for the roll call vote. It is presently in the House Appropriations Committee awaiting action.

My “Healthy Pennsylvania” healthcare package has been introduced as:

· Senate Bill 1181: sunset existing healthcare mandates
· Senate Bill 1182: promote Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
· Senate Bill 1183: lift healthcare mandates from HSAs
· Senate Bill 1184: establish HSAs for government employees
· Senate Bill 1185: weed out bad doctors
· Senate Bill 1186: weed out bad osteopathic physicians
· Senate Bill 1187: weed out bad nurses
· Senate Bill 1188: give consumers more price information
· Senate Bill 1189: establish tax credits/deductions for people who pay for their own healthcare
· Senate Bill 1190: authorize the purchase of health insurance from out-of-state insurers
· Senate Bill 1191: establish a State High Risk Pool
· Senate Bill 1192: adopt cost containment procedures used in other states
· Senate Bill 1193: establish a means test for Medicaid
· Senate Bill 1194: establish a means test for CHIP
· Senate Bill 1195: establish a means test for adultBasic
· Senate Bill 1196: phase-out the MCARE Fund (Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error)

For those who are interested, there is now a link on my website (www.legis.state.pa.us), entitled “Live Senate Feed”, which allows you to watch Senate Sessions live. Please be sure to check the “date and time of next session” information on the page so that you’re not looking at a blank screen on non-session days!

Of course, my website is also available for further information on the above issues and for information on other legislative and state topics. And, feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you: mfolmer@pasen.gov; 877-222-1897 (toll free).

For further information on these issues, and for information on other legislative and state topics, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

Open Records Law Passes Senate

Last week the full Senate passed (vote of 48-1) legislation that updates Pennsylvania’s Open Records Law. The law was last updated in 1957. A key provision of the bill, Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, is the presumption that government records are open to the public unless specifically exempted. Amendments to extend the legal presumption of openness that Senator Jeff Piccola and I supported in committee did not make it into the final version of the bill. Senator Vincent Fumo was the only no vote on Senate Bill 1.

Energy Bills on Special Session Calendar

The Special Session Committee on Appropriations amended and reported out Special Session Senate Bill 1, which attempts to offer an alternative to the Governor’s $850 million borrowing plan for “energy independence.” Although Special Session Senate Bill 1 was reported out of committee by a vote of 14 – 1, there are a number of continuing concerns. The bill, as amended, is designed to spend $650 million over 10 years:

· $250 million bond through the Commonwealth Financing Authority ($20 million per year for 25 years);
· $200 million for consumer programs ($20 million per year over 10 years); and
· $200 million in tax credits ($20 million per year over 10 years).

Funds listed below would be used for a variety of initiatives, including:

· $210 million for loans and grants for clean energy and alternative energy projects;
· $200 million in tax credits for alternative energy production projects;
· $100 million for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP);
· $100 million for residential energy conservation projects;
· $25 million for pollution control technology projects; and
· $15 million for early-stage and venture capital projects.

The Special Session Committee on Energy Policies (of which I am a member of) recently reported out a number of other Special Session bills:

· Senate Bill 4 - Research & Development tax credits for alternative energy development
· Senate Bill 6 - Provides solar energy tax credits (up to 25% of the installation costs)
· Senate Bill 8 - Sales Tax Holiday for energy-saving materials
· Senate Bill 22 - Amends the existing Alternative Fuel Incentive Act
· Senate Bill 25 - Changes the status of papermaking materials under the existing Alternative Fuels

Portfolio Standards Act

· Senate Bill 26 - Requires state-owned or state-leased vehicles to operate on a biodiesel fuel blend
· Senate Bill 31 - Changes how hydropower is treated under the existing Alternative Fuels Portfolio

· Senate Bill 36 - Requires a biodiesel study and establishes standards for the production of biodiesel fuel

For further information on these issues, and for information on other legislative and state topics, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you: mfolmer@pasen.gov; 877-222-1897 (toll free).

Senate State Government Committee

The Senate State Government Committee recently heard testimony and unanimously approved Senator Wonderling’s Senate Bill 428, which would expand the list of newspapers that can be used for legal notices. Current law does not allow “community papers of mass dissemination” to be used by local governments for required legal notices. Testimony was presented by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association (PNA), who oppose the bill, the Mid-Atlantic Community Papers Association, who support Senate Bill 428, and the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), who also the measure. PNA says that advertising in “penny-savers or shoppers” “would be injurious to our democracy.” PSATS countered that “Senate Bill 428 would give townships an additional, less costly option for publishing important legal advertisements” and adding, “new competition may cause the price of legal advertisements to decrease.”

Foster Care Bill Reported from Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously reported out my Senate Bill 1156, which strengthens the rights of foster children and foster parents. Senate Bill 1156 is needed to conform Pennsylvania law to federal law by January 1, 2008. Current law does not give foster parents a right to be heard at hearings on permanency plans. My bill establishes this right and also establishes a better opportunity for the views of foster children to be heard in the establishment of permanency plans.

2008 Senate Schedule

The Senate established a tentative Session schedule for the first six months of 2008:

· January: 1 (as required by the Constitution), 14, 15, 16, 28, 29, 30
· February: 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12
· March: 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 31
· April: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 28, 29, and 30
· May: 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, and 21
· June: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17,18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 30

For further information on these issues, and for information on other legislative and state topics, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us.

As always, please feel free to contact me on any state-related matter that may be of concern to you: mfolmer@pasen.gov; 877-222-1897 (toll free).

Time: 7:00 PM, Tuesday, April 10th
Location: Ebenezer Fire Hall, Rt 72N, Ebenezer Road, Lebanon, PA

Mike is requesting the honor of your presence to join him and his friends, family and volunteers and constituents from all over his district to hear Mike tell the story of his first 100 days in office. Tell your neighbors, friends and family to join us on April 10th!

NOTE: If you are interested in helping Mike to form Town Hall meetings in his district, we will be holding a meeting from 5 PM till 7 PM that same evening. If you are interested in volunteering to help us form these groups in your area, please plan on attending this meeting and call me at (717) 865-0120 to express your interest.

Thank you all for your continued support!

LEBANON (March 18, By: David Mekeel of the Lebanon Daily News) - Trying to make good on promises he made during last summer’s election, Sen. Mike Folmer held an informal meeting with a group of independent truck drivers yesterday in an attempt to get a first-hand glimpse of the issues important to his constituents.

“This was part of my campaign,” Folmer, who represents all of Lebanon County, told the group of about 20. “I said that this is your government and your voices would be heard.”

Two topics in particular — the economics of the trucking industry and the public’s perception of truckers — dominated much of the conversation.

Sitting at large, round tables in the dimly lit Prescott Banquet Hall, the truckers shared their ideas, fears and questions with the senator. The group agreed that most people driving on major highways in Pennsylvania don’t know how to drive amongst the big rigs, a fact that can cause accidents for which truckers are often blamed.

“Unfortunately, the public perception out there is that you’re big, bad guys,” Folmer agreed. “We need to address the image problems that truckers face, fix the misconceptions. You’re human beings and want to come home safe just like anyone else.”

A few ideas on how to deal with that problem were quickly volunteered. One driver suggested that the problem stems from poor driver-education programs, weak requirements for obtaining a drivers license and lax enforcement of traffic laws. Folmer, after agreeing that many drivers seem unqualified to be cruising the state’s highways and byways, suggested that raising the age requirement for drivers might be helpful.

“You wonder where the personal responsibility is; you wonder where the common sense is,” he said after listening to a handful of stories the truckers told of run-ins with dangerous drivers.

Another idea that was floated by truckers was for police officers or a camera crew to occasionally ride along with a trucker. The thought behind the proposal is that most people don’t know what it’s like to be behind the wheel of a big rig, and they might act differently around them if they did.

Folmer was immediately drawn to the idea, saying it would be a perfect fit for a weekly television show he is planning to air. The show, he said, will be aimed to draw attention to various local and state issues. He said that if he and a cameraman rode with a trucker, the video could show other drivers just what truckers have to deal with on a daily basis.

Garnering just as much, if not more, attention was a discussion about various economic issues facing independent truckers. After lambasting Gov. Edward Rendell and previous state congressional bodies for wasting huge amounts of taxpayers’ money, Folmer took a look at problems that directly affect truckers. First and foremost on their minds was a plan to sell the Pa. Turnpike to a private, foreign company.

“The privatization of the turnpike is not a good idea,” Folmer said. “I am a conservative Republican, but something in my gut tells me it’s not a good thing. It seems like a short-term fix for a long-term problem.”

The truckers agreed that the prospects of having the turnpike in the hands of a private company was less than ideal. They shared worries about raised tolls and poor maintenance, citing problems their colleagues faced when Indiana’s turnpike was privatized.

The truckers also cited increased licensing fees and a proposal to increase fuel taxes as other plans that would put a hurting on their wallets.

HARRISBURG (March 11, By: Brad Bumsted of the Trib) - Freshman Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County, is doing the unthinkable in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He's turning down a state pension -- the Holy Grail of Legislative Perks.

It's what taxpayer-financed, incumbency-protection programs and partisan redistricting are all about: returning to office term after term to build up service to draw down on one of the most lucrative legislative pensions in the nation. For many, it is the end game. It's like hitting the lottery at taxpayers' expense. Thirty-six outgoing legislators last year had average annual pensions of $43,000, according to The Associated Press. Former Rep. Elinor Z. Taylor is collecting the most at $131,000 per year. Taylor, a former educator before winning election to the House in 1976, also got a lump sum payment of $187,000.

Folmer, who defeated former Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, R-Lebanon, last year by campaigning as a reformer, says he is trying to remain true to his principles. "If you are going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk," said Folmer, a former tire salesman. Folmer is also turning down the Senate's generous health care plan. He won't accept $148 per diems or a state car. He said he will collect salary and mileage, the only benefits afforded to lawmakers in the state Constitution. "I'm not trying to be a poster child for reform," Folmer said. But Folmer said turning down a pension gives him more credibility to push for reform of the system.

It is extremely rare for a legislator to give up a pension. Former Rep. John Kennedy, a Cumberland County Republican, was one of the few in recent history to turn one down. Rep. Matt Smith, D-Mt. Lebanon, an attorney, is honoring a campaign commitment to turn down health care benefits and a pension for the next two years. Smith said he will re-evaluate it in two years if he wins re-election. He's not ruling it out down the road. Folmer says part of the reason he's giving up the pension is he doesn't plan on being around that long. "I'm a term-limit guy," Folmer said. "I truly believe we should be a citizen Legislature. It should about service, sacrifice. "Folmer said if re-elected he would serve no more than 12 years. "I'm not looking at a long-term career in the Legislature," Folmer said.

It's extraordinary for a lawmaker to give up personal enrichment. Folmer says the approximate $73,000 salary is sufficient. He is on his wife's health care plan. Smith is also on his wife's plan. There's no question that "Citizen Mike," as he was called during the campaign, is striking out in a new direction by moving toward a part-time citizens' General Assembly. Pennsylvania, with 253 House and Senate members, is the largest full-time state legislature in the nation with a $335.5 million budget. It costs $1.3 million for each member. The cost to the average household for our supposedly full-time Legislature is $66 a year. Most infuriating -- the growth from a part-time legislative body three decades ago occurred without Pennsylvania voters ever giving their approval.

Citizen Mike is a throwback to an earlier time when state spending for the Legislature, relatively speaking, was under control.

It remains to be seen whether Folmer is on the vanguard or whether he'll be a footnote in history.

LEBANON (August 24) - Businessman, philanthropist and civic leader Bob Ladd today was named chairman of Mike Folmer's campaign for State Senate in the 48th District.

"Bob Ladd is widely respected in the 48th District among voters of all affiliations, and I am honored to have him as the chairman of my campaign," Folmer said.

"Mike Folmer is passionate about reform and making the General Assembly again committed to the principles upon which our Commonwealth was founded," Ladd said. "He'll make a fine addition to the State Senate and serve the people of the 48th District with honor and distinction."

Citizen Mike’s Campaign Moves Full Steam Ahead
Folmer Resumes Door-to-Door Canvassing, Forms Fundraising Committee.
07/06/06

LEBANON (July 6) – While most campaigns traditionally take a break between the Primary Election and Labor Day, Citizen Mike Folmer is working all the harder to become the State Senator for the 48th District, which comprises all of Lebanon County and parts of Berks, Lancaster, Dauphin and Chester counties.

After visiting the homes of more than 14,000 voters during the primary election, Folmer’s intense regimen of door-to-door canvassing resumes this week.

Folmer has also completed the formulation of his campaign’s finance committee, which is charged with raising the money requisite to operate his campaign through the fall election. The committee will be chaired by Cleona businessman Rich Newmaster. Members of the committee are: Bill Carpenter, Jim Broussard, Horace Ehrgood, Howard Neuin, Jed Gingrich, Ed Lynch, Glenn Wenger, and Redith Snoberger “As we did in the primary, my team and I are going to work as hard as we can for victory in the fall,” Folmer said. “We intend to bring our message of reform – the ‘Promise to Pennsylvania’ – directly to as many as voters as possible.”

LEBANON (June 28) – Mike Folmer, the Republican candidate for State Senate in the 48th District and co-author of the Promise to Pennsylvania (www.promisepa.com), today urged lawmakers to demonstrate fiscal responsibility in crafting a state budget for fiscal year 2006-07, as well as return to the taxpayers the $750 million they overpaid in the current fiscal year. “For the last several years, our state legislature has increased government spending beyond the rate of inflation,” said Folmer. “If we continue our spendthrift ways, we cannot reasonably expect solid economic growth or the tax reform that politicians routinely promise the people.” Folmer noted that studies conducted by nonpartisan groups such as the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation confirm that states with sluggish job growth spend more per capita than states with vibrant job growth. “It’s not rocket science – you can grow government or you can grow jobs, but you can’t grow both,” Folmer said. “It’s time to rein in wasteful spending so we can provide serious tax relief and spur economic growth.” Regarding the surplus, Folmer said the money should not be kept in Harrisburg where it will be spent on new bureaucracy, but rather it should be returned to the source – the hardworking taxpayers of Pennsylvania – in the form of tax cuts.

We had a great election night. The voters turned out and delivered a historic victory.

I want to thank our supporters across this district. At every stop I asked you to make the calls, put up the signs, talk to your neighbors, and get out the vote. And because you did your part, we are celebrating today.

The people have spoken. And I am humbled by the trust and confidence of my fellow citizens. With that trust comes a duty: I will continue to work hard on the campaign trail. I am proud to lead the Republican Party -- and I am proud to lead reform forward.

Reaching our goals will require the broad support of our district. We have an opportunity to change business as usual in Harrisburg. We have one country, one Constitution, and one future that binds us all. And when we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness we can achieve for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I thank you in advance for your continued support.

The campaign has not ended, but our cause is renewed. Our campaign goes forward into the general election with confidence and faith. I can see a new day coming, and I am eager for the work ahead. God bless you all, and God bless America.

The May 16 primary provides useful lessons for Republicans across the commonwealth and the country as we approach the 2006 general election in a very challenging political environment. Here are a few of those lessons:

It wasn't all about the pay raise. Yes, the legislative pay raise in Pennsylvania contributed significantly to the energy supporting challengers' campaigns, but it was not the main driver of the political bloodbath.

The main reason so many Republican incumbents lost to little-known primary challengers was the accumulated frustration of the rank and file with elected Republicans who had abandoned their party's principles - especially the principle of limited government. This is a huge problem for Republicans holding federal office, too.

Supporting the dissatisfied-GOP-voter theory is that most Democrats, and Republican Rep. Tom Creighton, a solid conservative who voted for the pay increase, handily defeated their challengers. In addition, a poll conducted three weeks before the election underscored the point.

In that survey of the 48th Senate District, Sen. David J. Brightbill led challenger Mike Folmer on the ballot test, 43-24, even though 66 percent of those surveyed knew Brightbill had voted for the pay raise. What the voters didn't know was much more important. Seventy-one percent didn't know that he had voted for the four largest tax increases in Pennsylvania history. Seventy-two percent didn't know that he had voted for budgets that grew much faster than inflation and, in at least one year, greatly exceeded the spending requested by liberal Democratic Gov. Rendell.

The poll clearly indicated that if Folmer had the resources to inform voters of Brightbill's tax-and-spend record, he could come from way behind and still win. Folmer got the resources and won, emphasizing fiscal discipline.

Candidates matter. The old saying "You can't beat someone with no one" rang true in the primary. In the marquee races, challengers John Eichelberger and Mike Folmer were both strong candidates. Eichelberger, who defeated Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer, had several successful countywide races under his belt. He was sharp, poised, articulate, and able to raise significant money. Folmer was the consummate nonpolitician. A plainspoken tire salesman, Folmer exuded sincerity and passion. His enthusiasm was contagious. He and Eichelberger were personable and credible.

More important, both candidates ran as Ronald Reagan conservatives promising a return to the core Republican values of limited government, personal freedom, lower taxes and less spending. This was also the message of successful Republican challengers across the state. In the end, strong conservative candidates won, liberals lost.

Unprecedented conservative institutional support. One of the most impressive and potentially important aspects of the primary was the role of young conservative institutions. In past election cycles, conservatives daring to challenge the moderate establishment politicians were on their own. This time they had institutional support.

The two-year-old Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania, led by Chris Lilik, kept attention on the pay raise throughout Central Pennsylvania almost from the moment of the vote. They ran radio ads, organized rallies and, late in the race, spent substantial sums reminding voters of the importance of limited government.

The Pennsylvania Club for Growth, itself less than two years old, led by Kathryn English, endorsed candidates, validating their claims as fiscal conservatives. The club spent heavily on TV and mail criticizing incumbents who voted for higher taxes. Two of the club's three endorsed candidates won.

The Commonwealth Foundation, although nonpartisan, is strongly committed to limited government and personal freedom. Led by Matt Brouillette, it provided conservative candidates with a wealth of facts, figures and analyses revealing the problems liberal economic policies have inflicted upon Pennsylvania and demonstrating the successes of conservative policies where they have been implemented.

Frustrated Republican voters, fed up with big-government Republican incumbents and seeing credible challengers supported by conservative institutions, made sweeping changes.

The danger for GOP majorities across the country this fall is that Republican voters may still be frustrated with their incumbents. In the fall, they won't have primary challengers through which to vent their frustration. But they can stay home. Republican officeholders have very little time left to demonstrate to these voters that it's still worth coming out to vote.

Alan Keyes Endorses Folmer For State Senate - Says It Is Time To Send Elected Officials A Clear Message
06/16/06

Citing the need to elect representatives who are individuals of principles, conservative icon and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes endorsed Mike Folmer in the Republican primary for state Senate in the 48th district this evening.

Keyes threw his support behind Folmer during a speech he made as the keynote speaker at a dinner sponsored by state Senate candidate Heidi Wheaton, who was also endorsed by Keyes.

Highlighting the fact that too many elected officials have neglected their responsibility to stand up for the principles that make Americans a free people, Keyes said that there was a need for candidates of principle to stand up to the establishment politicians.

"It’s time to send them a clear message as to who this government belongs to, and it’s not them,” Keyes said, referring to entrenched and career politicians. “It’s the people.

“At every level of government are people who have to take an oath, and they would have you think that that oath is to care for people from cradle to grave, to buy our votes with our money,” he said. “But that oath is to protect and defend the Constitutions of the United States and the state in which they reside.”

Keyes said that candidates like Folmer and Wheaton should be applauded for their decision to stand up for the principles they believe in, which are the same principles and ideals upon which the United States was established, and he urged voters in their districts to carefully consider how they vote.

"If you want decent representation, then vote for a decent representative,’ he said. “Make a choice that respects your conscience.”

Folmer, a former Lebanon City Councilman and conservative reformer who is challenging incumbent tax-and-spend liberal David J. "Chip" Brightbill for the Republican nomination, also spoke at the dinner, and highlighted the fact that he is running for the state Senate because he believes in the vision of accountability the Founding Fathers had for America.

"Our Constitution begins with ‘We the people’ and it is time to restore that sense of accountability,” he said.

Folmer highlighted The Promise To Pennsylvania, a formal document outlining specific reforms that he and nine other signers, including Wheaton, will try to institute in Harrisburg once they are elected.

"This is all about reform,” he said, holding up a copy of The Promise. “This is all about accountability."

Outlining the need for a change in Republican leadership in the state Senate, the head of the national Club For Growth and former US Congressman Pat Toomey endorsed Mike Folmer for state Senate in the 48th district today.

Toomey issued his endorsement during a speech he made as the keynote luncheon speaker at the annual Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in Harrisburg.

Noting that too much power in the state Senate has been accumulated in too few hands, Toomey said that the time has arrived for change. He noted that the current GOP leadership has increased taxes significantly and repeatedly, expanded state spending, and not only pushed through the pay raise but also circumvented the state constitution to take the increased pay early.

Toomey said that he endorsed Folmer and John Eichelberger, who is challenging state Senate President Pro Tempore Bob Jubelirer, because both races were controversial and because he can personally appreciate the challenge they are facing.

"There comes a time when taking on the establishment is the right thing to do," he said.

By electing Folmer and Eichelberger, conservative Republicans would not only be outlining a call for change, they would actually be implementing it, he said.

"Their election will necessarily result in new leadership in the Republican Party in the state Senate," he said.

Folmer, a former Lebanon City Councilman and conservative reformer who is challenging incumbent tax-and-spend liberal David J. "Chip" Brightbill for the Republican nomination, said he felt privileged that Toomey not only endorsed him but did so in such a public forum.

"Pat is a great leader in the conservative movement, and to have him extend his hand of support to my campaign with hundreds of other conservatives present was an honor I am deeply touched by," he said.

Folmer said Toomey’s endorsement will give a strong surge of momentum to his already burgeoning grassroots campaign.

"We were conceived as a grassroots campaign and born as a grassroots campaign, and I am going to maintain a grassroots campaign," he said. "I will be continuing my door-to-door work and attending rallies in different communities within the 48th, and I am going to continue promoting my message of reform and true Republican principles through Election Day."

Citing their belief in a Constitutionally sound government, Firearm Owners Against Crime (FOAC) formally endorsed Republican Mike Folmer for state Senate in the 48th district.

"I know that FOAC goes through a very stringent process before throwing their support behind a candidate," Folmer said. "Their support is just another indication that Harrisburg has lost touch with rank-and-file voters – including gun owners."

In a written statement, FOAC said that they endorsed Folmer after considering many factors including their questionnaire, peer review, record review and individual personal contact.

"We believe that a strong, independent and Constitutionally sound Government is essential for our society to flourish, especially in these trying times," the written statement said. "It is our goal to assist in this process by helping to elect responsible leaders to elected office."

"The right to bear arms is a fundamental American right," he said. "And despite what historical revisionists may claim, our Founders all agreed that the right to own a gun was just as important as the right to life, liberty and property."

Folmer also said that the Pennsylvania Constitution asserts the right of citizens to the private ownership of guns.

"Gun ownership is highlighted in the state constitution as a fundamental right in order to protect one’s person," Folmer said.