July 17, 2013 11:53 pm

Public be damned in Cecil Township

The idea that the state Department of Environmental Protection, under the Corbett administration, works primarily for the benefit of the people of Pennsylvania took another hit last week when it became clear that the DEP has no interest in hearing the questions and comments of those who live near the Worstell impoundment in Cecil Township.

The impoundment, for those who haven’t been following the story, is operated by Range Resources and has been a point of contention since the first of this year, when township officials wrote to the DEP to allege that the company failed to obtain proper approvals for the original use and construction of the impoundment, which is a repository for gas-drilling wastewater.

Some township officials say that even though drilling of wells has been completed near the site of the impoundment, trucks continue to bring in fracking water from other locations. Andy Schrader, vice chairman of the township supervisors, says a counter on the road indicates that a truck is coming into or out of the impoundment every 18 minutes. Yet Range has indicated that the site is used sparingly.

One would think that six months would be more than enough time to get to the bottom of this, to satisfy the concerns of township officials and answer the questions of those who live near the operation. One would be wrong.

Initially, there was a move by some supervisors to have a private meeting with the DEP about the Worstell site and other drilling-related matters, but when word of that proposed behind-closed-doors gathering created a backlash, the session was scrapped and there was hope that a public meeting would result. But the DEP is now making it crystal clear that it has no interest in an open discussion of the issues.

The agency says it will instead have a “conference” with township supervisors, select “officials,” and, according to Schrader, “other guests that have a direct interest.” We would assume that residents of the township who have environmental, traffic and other concerns related to Worstell would have a “direct interest.” The DEP, clearly, does not.

Continue reading DEP Allows Range Resources Illegal Dump in Cecil Township →

Pennsylvania Voter ID Trial: State Court Weighing Constitutionality Of Law

By PETER JACKSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A trial set to begin Monday on the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s voter identification law represents a major step toward a judicial ruling on whether the photo requirement should be enforced at polling places statewide or thrown out as unconstitutional.

Nine days are set aside for the trial in Harrisburg in Commonwealth Court. Civil libertarians challenging the law and state officials defending it say they expect the state Supreme Court will ultimately decide the case.

At issue is a voter ID law that would be one of the strictest in the nation if it is upheld but has never been enforced.

After legal jousting that reached the state Supreme Court, Judge Robert Simpson blocked enforcement in last year’s presidential election and again in this year’s municipal and judicial primary because of lingering concern that it could disenfranchise voters who lacked a valid photo ID.

The 2012 law was approved without any Democratic votes by the Legislature’s Republican majority and signed by GOP Gov. Tom Corbett amid a bitterly contested White House race in which Democratic President Barack Obama ultimately carried Pennsylvania and was re-elected.

Continue reading PA High Court Hears Voter ID Challenge →

Joining members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus (PLBC) will be members of the NAACP, AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America and Service Employees International Union.

Serving as keynote speaker for the rally is the Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, who is known for his stirring commentary and fight for civil rights.

Under his leadership, the NAACP developed a new voter registration and voter participation system, which resulted in registering more than 442,000 new voters in North Carolina.

“Dr. Barber is one of this country’s strongest voter protection advocates, and I am pleased that he will be addressing our rally and supporting us in this very important issue,” said Representative Vanessa Lowery Brown. “Although Pennsylvania’s voter ID law was not implemented in the last election cycle, our work is far from over. We must continue to fight against this discriminatory law and make our voices heard until it is no longer law in our Commonwealth.”

Continue reading Protest Voter ID Law in Harrisburg July 11 →

On Sunday, the State Senate came together in an overwhelming bi-partisan vote to expand Medicaid in Pennsylvania under the authority of the Affordable Care Act.  This move would have provided health coverage to over half a million Pennsylvanians, and would have saved the Commonwealth over $250 million per year, while injecting $3 billion in new annual economic activity for the State.

Yesterday, however, the House Rules Committee, chaired by House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, voted along party lines to strip the Medicaid expansion out of the welfare code.

The move to kill Medicaid expansion was supported by all Republican members of the Committee – William Adolph, Matthew Baker, Jim Christiana, Brian Ellis, Mauree Gingrich, Robert Godshall, Seth Grove, Dick Hess, Thomas Killion, Ron Marsico, Tina Pickett, Mike Reese, Stan Saylor, Mario Scavello, Sam Smith, and Katharine Watson.

This expansion would have primarily benefited working families who can’t afford to purchase health insurance and who are not covered by their employers.

Representative DiGirolamo (R-Bucks), led an impassioned effort to undo the actions of Turzai and the Rules Committee, by moving to reject their amendments that removed Medicaid expansion.  After a short floor debate, the effort failed 108-94.  While the entire House Democratic caucus stood with Rep. DiGirolamo, Representative John Taylor was the only other Republican to join his colleague in standing up for Pennsylvania’s citizens.

Idaho AFL-CIO endorses HR 676, National Single Payer Health Care

Rian Van Leuven, President of the Idaho State AFL-CIO, announced that on
June 12, 2013, the delegates to the 55th Annual Idaho State AFL-CIO
Convention passed a resolution to publicly endorse and support H.R. 676,
Single Payer Healthcare.

Further the resolution states “That the Idaho State AFL-CIO will develop
working relationships with community organizations in Idaho which advocate
for single-payer healthcare and Medicaid expansion.”

Louis Schlickman, MD, an Idaho physician who practices in Meridian and is
Co Chair of the Physicians for a National Health Program state chapter,
showed the movie Escape Fire and made a single payer presentation to the
convention prior to the passage of the resolution.

After the resolution for HR 676 was passed by the Idaho State AFL-CIO
Convention, Dr. Schlickman stated that, “Collectively we are all realizing
that unions in general can play a huge role in helping others, not just
union workers, see the merit in a single payer financing system of care.”

Continue reading Idaho AFL-CIO endorses HR 676, Medicare for All →

U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously adopts resolution “Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and  Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs”

Mayors for Peace congratulates the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) for its unanimous adoption of a bold resolution “Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs.” The resolution, passed by the Conference on June 24 at its 81^st Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, calls for constructive U.S. engagement in new international disarmament forums and reorientation of U.S. national priorities by reducing military spending and redirecting those funds to meet the needs of cities.

The USCM is the nonpartisan association of American cities with populations over 30,000. As explained by its outgoing President, Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, who chaired the final plenary: “Resolutions, if passed, become the official policy of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.”

The resolution was adopted on the heels of President Obama’s June 19 Berlin speech in which he declared, “so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” and announced his intention to seek
further bilateral nuclear weapons reductions with Russia. The resolution was introduced by Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic, a former USCM President and Vice President of Mayors for Peace, and had
29 additional sponsors. It highlights several important new multilateral disarmament initiatives not mentioned by Obama in Berlin, and calls on the President and the U.S. government to demonstrate good faith by constructive participation in those initiatives:

·         The first ever High-Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Nuclear Disarmament, to be held on September 26, 2013 at UN headquarters in New York;

·         A UN working group open to all member states “to develop proposals to take forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations for the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear
weapons;” and

·         A follow-on conference to the February 2013 Oslo Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, to be hosted by Mexico in early 2014.

Continue reading US Mayors Call for Elimination of Nuclear Weapons →