Category: Partisanship
House Republicans keep insisting that jobs are a top priority; yet, last week they made several moves that will undoubtedly hurt workers instead of help them.
In an effort to put more money into the pockets of private business and less into the pockets of Pennsylvania workers, the GOP voted in committee to change the prevailing wage requirements, which currently ensure that union workers who are working on public projects receive fair pay.
The changes to the law would amend the way the prevailing wage is calculated, increase the minimum project amount that qualifies to $185,000, and exempt school districts and local governments from having to pay the mandated rate.
Under current law, all public projects that cost more than $25,000 must be completed by workers who are paid a prevailing wage.
Democratic House Leader, Rep. Frank Dermody (Allegheny), came out blasting the bills, calling them “an assault on working people”.
That’s not the only action House GOP members took to hurt Pennsylvania jobs, however. They also voted unanimously six separate times in committee to protect those companies that hire illegal immigrants over US citizens. Also called “E-Verify”, these amendments would’ve required contractors to verify the legal status of their employees, ensuring that PA jobs go to PA citizens.
Republicans who voted against the amendment included freshman Representatives Mark Gillen and Warren Kampf.
Rep. Bill Keller (Philadelphia), who authored the amendments, criticized the vote saying, “We're only two weeks into the fall legislative session and Republicans are already moving bills that would help corporations keep more of their profits at the expense of highly trained, skilled Pennsylvania workers and the public.”
House Republicans were right about one thing--jobs are a top priority, just not keeping or creating them.
The Senate Republicans are moving to change the way the Electoral College works here in Pennsylvania, essentially stripping the commonwealth of its swing state status in presidential races. Perhaps not so coincidentally, the state has gone Democratic in every presidential election since 1988.
After its unveiling, the measure received a cold reception from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including several House Democrats.
Representatives Mike Gerber and Josh Shapiro came out criticizing the bill, saying that because administrations have historically spent discretionary money in swing states, the Senate bill could cost Pennsylvanians hundreds of millions of dollars. Shapiro was also quoted as saying that he believes that this “blatant partisan effort” would undermine Pennsylvania’s role in electing a President. Representative Gerald Mullery came out calling the initiative “an attempted power grab” by Republicans.
House Democrats aren’t the only ones who oppose the changes, however. Poll results released last week showed that 52 percent of Pennsylvanians prefer the winner-take-all system over the Senate proposal.
Despite last week’s poll results and criticisms by fellow Republicans, Republican House Speaker, Sam Smith, and House Republican Leader, Mike Turzai, expressed their support for the measure, showing just how out of touch the House GOP leaders are with Pennsylvanians.
Results from a recent survey of school districts show that the nearly $930 million in drastic education cuts that were passed in the Republican state budget earlier this year are in fact hitting school districts hard.
According to the data released by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), responses indicate that students will see fewer faculty, larger class sizes, and outdated learning materials.
The Executive Director of PASBO, Jay Himes, was quoted in the report as saying, “We have not seen personnel and program reductions of this magnitude in education for decades. This is not a one year problem. The disinvestment in education combined with increasing pension costs next year means there will be more painful decisions for schools when the 2012-13 budget process starts later this fall.”
Below are some specific examples of what the Republican cuts have done to school districts across the state:
- 8,365 positions were eliminated by the responding school districts
- Of those positions, 3,556 were teachers
- Nearly one third have reduced or eliminated extracurricular activities such as sports programs
- More than 7 in 10 respondents indicated that reserve funds were used to balance their budgets, with many not having any reserve funds left for next year which will result in even more personnel cuts
A total of 294 out of 500 school districts, or 59%, participated in the survey.
The budget for 2011-2012 was passed and signed at the end of June with only Republican members voting for it.
