Pa. House Breaks Promise, Fails State's Children

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett Unveils Major School Choice Expansions

Commonwealth Foundation Applauds Education Plan, Urges Action

PA Catholic Conference Applauds Governor Corbett's School Choice Plan

Governor Tom Corbett Outlines Agenda for Education Reform

New Poll Demonstrates Broad Support for Financial Reform

From an editorial in The Mercury:

Senate Bill 101 increases the fines that may be imposed on elected officials who participate in a meeting with the intent of violating the open meeting requirements.

The fine, which was previously a flat rate of $100, was raised to as much as $1,000 for a first offense and $500 to $2,000 for a second offense. The mandate is set to take effect in 60 days.

The increased penalties for violating state sunshine laws were long overdue.

Pennsylvania has been known to be among the most antiquated states in the nation in its laws on open meetings and open records — a standing that was improved somewhat with the passage of open records reform several years ago.

Read the full editorial at the link below:

New law puts teeth into state sunshine laws - pottsmerc.com

Pennsylvania State Education Association Unveils 'Solutions That Work' to Reform Public Education

New Poll Confirms Americans Want Medical Liability Reform

School notices plan: Curbing right to know in the guise of thrift - pottsmerc.com

From an editorial in today's edition of The Mercury calling for a reduction in the size of the Pennsylvania Legislature:

Pennsylvania's Legislature became large as a result of movement to prevent corruption by business interests. Over the years, the corruption has come from within.

The time has come to clean up Harrisburg, starting with downsizing the Legislature. Cuts are coming down across the board in Pennsylvania — they should come at the top as well.

Read the full editorial here.

State Sen. David Argall, R-29th, is the latest member of the Pennsylvania Legislature to jump on the "cut the size of the Legislature" bandwagon.

"The General Assembly cannot continue to ask state agencies to continue to cut costs unless we are also willing to lead by example," Argall writes in a recent op-ed.

Time is right to reduce size of Pa. Legislature - pottsmerc.com

The best documentary of 2010 comes to DVD on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

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Nobody saw this one coming. A political newcomer knocked off the top-ranking Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Tuesday night.

Democratic Majority Leader Todd Eachus has been in the Legislature since 1997.

The upset victory by Tarah Toohil is a clear indication that Pennsylvania voters want to see major reform in Harrisburg.

From the Times-Tribune:

In a stunning upset, tea party upstart Tarah Toohil, a Republican, defeated incumbent Todd Eachus in the 116th legislative district Tuesday.

Mr. Eachus, the Democratic House Majority Leader, was first elected representative in 1996 and was campaigning for an eighth term.

Ms. Toohil is an attorney.

Ms. Toohil's victory sent shock waves through Hazleton and the state capital, with many observers predicting the race would be decided by 1 or 2 percentage points. She won by 1,742 votes, according to unofficial results.

"(The Eachus defeat) shows that anti-Harrisburg sentiment is very much alive," said Terry Madonna, pollster at Franklin & Marshall College.

Read the full story here.

The Rendell Administration paid a Philadelphia firm $125,000 to spy on citizen activists and critics of Rendell's policies. Should that surprise anyone?

A Philadelphia newspaper reported about the questionable activities of The Institute of Terrorism Research and Response in July, but Rendell pulled the old Sgt. Schultz defense: I know nothing!

Rendell said at a news conference Tuesday he didn't know what kind of reports the Philly terrorism watchdog group was providing to his administration.

However, if you read some of the articles below, it appears Rendell's top aides were receiving information about citizen activists and administration critics all along. They had to know that the information they were buying (with taxpayer dollars) was bogus.

Did they not tell their boss? What was the point of the spying?

Just the latest example of the culture of corruption and fiscal mismanagement surrounding the Rendell Administration.

From The Harrisburg Patriot-News: Gov. Ed Rendell's top staffers knew of Homeland Security tracking protesters in July

Also in The Patriot-News: State tracks anti-Marcellus Shale drilling groups, notifies law enforcement and Rendell ends tracking of opponents of natural gas drilling

From The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Lawsuit planned after protesters put on terror list

From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Philadelphia firm wrongly targeted activists

From The Philadelphia Inquirer: Rendell 'appalled' by state's tracking of activists