By Kevin McCorry

– In a 114-84 vote, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Monday once again approved the $2-per-pack Philadelphia cigarette tax for city schools.

The measure could get a vote in the Senate as soon as Wednesday. Gov. Tom Corbett has pledged to sign the bill upon passage.

The Philadelphia School District is counting on the cigarette tax to generate $49 million this fiscal year to avoid a slate of more than 1,000 layoffs that district officials warn would turn schools into “empty shells.”

In order to generate this revenue, the district says collections must begin by Oct. 1.

House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, assured school Superintendent William Hite in August that the district could count on cigarette tax revenue by October.

The House first passed the cigarette tax on July 2, but disagreements with the Senate over unrelated items trapped the omnibus measure in a game of legislative pingpong.

That game may not yet be over.

Senate leaders may want to stick with the bill as they’ve already twice passed it. This iteration includes provisions that allow hotel taxes to be hiked in some counties and allow some cities to apply for tax credits for community revitalization improvement zones (CRIZ).

House leaders dislike these provisions, lamenting the fact that expanding CRIZ eligibility could cost the state general fund $70 million.

The Senate leadership’s spokesman said another end run is not likely.

“We are very eager to get this issue resolved, to get a bill to the governor’s desk,” Erik Arneson said in a telephone interview shortly after the House vote. “I don’t see any movement to try to put those issues back into the Philadelphia cigarette tax bill.”

Arneson said lawmakers have started work on separate bills for the hotel taxes and CRIZs.

What’s the difference between now and early July?

“The passage of time,” said Arneson. “People being able to get a better understanding of the importance of the issue to Philadelphia, people being able to better express their viewpoints on the other issues that had been in the same bill.”

If the Senate doesn’t vote Wednesday, its next chance will be a session scheduled for Oct. 6.

If the House and Senate had reached consensus in early July, the levy would have generated an additional $13 million for schools this year, according to the district’s revenue projections.

Council President Darrell Clarke, who watched the preceedings from the balcony of the House, said he had his “fingers crossed” that the Senate would move the bill quickly.

He praising the bill’s bipartisian support in the house, but warned that Philadelphia’s schools were still far from out of the woods.

“With all due respect to a lot of people, it’s still a short term solution,” he said. “We still need to work on a broader funding formula, but that’s a conversation for another day.”

The bill as passed by the House gives lawmakers the option to end the levy after five years. It also includes an amendment from Rep. John Taylor, R-Philadelphia, that makes it easier to start a new charter school in Philadelphia.

The amendment allows new charter applicants to petition the state charter appeals board (CAB) if they are rejected by the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.

As is, appeals in Philadelphia are the sole purview of the SRC, which was exempted from the CAB process in the state-takeover legislation of 2001.

The SRC last approved a batch of independent charter schools in 2009. Since then, the commission has converted 21 traditional district schools into Renaissance charters.

Proponents of the measure say it will give Philadelphia citizens better educational options. Opponents worry the change could lead to unfettered charter expansion, which would further deplete the district’s resources, undercutting the short-term gains of the cigarette tax.

Source: http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/73070-pa-house-passes-2-per-pack-philly-cigarette-tax-on-to-senate?linktype=hp_impact

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– A newly released Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll that surveyed 429 likely voters over the phone has Tom Wolf far ahead of Tom Corbett by 22 points.

Wolf stands at 54 percent as Corbett struggles at 33 percent. This comes after Qunnipiac University released poll results from a survey of 1,161 likely voters showing Wolf with 59 percent compared to Corbett’s 35 percent.

Huffpost Pollster has been tracking every poll related to this gubernatorial race as well as others since early 2013. Among the 18 polls they have listed, Wolf is ahead in all of them except for one from March 2013 in which the two candidates were tied.

These statistics are both comforting and reason for concern. It is undoubtedly good that the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO-endorsed gubernatorial candidate is ahead in the polls, but it is discomforting to think that voters may be less inclined to cast a vote if they take a Wolf victory for granted.

We are just about six weeks from Election Day (November 4), and two weeks from the deadline to register to vote (October 6). If you or someone you know has yet to register vote, get information on how to do so here.

Low voter turnout is the only way Tom Corbett can win re-election. Complacency is our biggest enemy at this point, and it is up to you to vote on November 4 and encourage others to do so.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=4602&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

From The National AFL-CIO

Because voter suppression is a reality not to be taken lightly, we felt it important to post information provided by the National AFL-CIO that will give all voters the opportunity to understand the voter regulations throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware as well as all states across the United States. (Scroll down to bottom for links to voter registration regulations for NJ, Del and all states across the U.S.A.)

PA. Voter Registration Requirements

In order to register to vote:

– You must be a U.S. citizen for at least one month prior to Election Day.

– You must have resided in the election district in which you want to register and vote for at least 30 days before Election Day.

– You must be 18 years old or older on Election Day.

Voter Registration

Register to vote online at aflcio.turbovote.org.

Oct. 6, 2014, is the last day you can hand deliver or mail your voter registration application and updates (if any) to your county Voter Registrar’s Office. If the voter registration application is mailed, it must be postmarked no later than Oct. 6, 2014.

You can check your voter registration status online here or by contacting 1-877-VOTESPA.

If you need to update your voter registration, you can resubmit a completed Pennsylvania voter registration application to your local county Voter Registration Office.

Voter ID Requirements

Generally, identification is not required to vote at the polls.

However, if you are a first-time voter, you must present an ID to vote. You must bring ONE of the following forms of current and valid identification:

– Pennsylvania driver’s license

– PennDOT ID card

– ID issued by any commonwealth agency

– ID issued by the U.S. government

– U.S. passport

– U.S. armed forces ID

– Student ID; or

– Employee ID.

Other accepted non-photo identification (featuring your name and address) include:

– Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office;

– Non-photo ID issued by the commonwealth;

– Non-photo ID issued by the U.S. government;

– Firearm permit;

– Current utility bill;

– Current bank statement or government check; or

– Current paycheck.

Voting Before Election Day

If you meet certain requirements, you can vote in person or by mail before Election Day.

You must request an absentee ballot by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, and your completed ballot must be returned by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, 2014.

See if you meet the requirements to vote before Election Day.

Student Information

If you are a resident of Pennsylvania and attend school within the state, but in a different election district, you may be eligible to register and vote in the election district you live in while attending school.

If you are a student from Pennsylvania, who is attending an institution out of state, you should first determine if you would like to vote in Pennsylvania or the state where your institution is located. Pennsylvania allows students attending school out of state to still vote in Pennsylvania. Please note that you may register and vote in only one state per election.

For more information on how to register and vote as a student, visit the VotesPA website.

Formerly Incarcerated? Restore Your Rights!

You cannot vote if you are incarcerated from a felony conviction, are in an alternative correctional facility on pre-release or have been convicted of violating Pennsylvania Election Code within the past four years.

Your right to vote is automatically restored once you are no longer incarcerated for a felony conviction, including for those on probation and parole. You may register to vote and vote while you are incarcerated for a misdemeanor, a pre-trial detainee or under house arrest. However, you must re-register to vote even if you were previously registered.

For more information on how to restore your voting rights, visit the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole’s website.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions about voting in Pennsylvania, please contact the Pennsylvania Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation at 717-787-5280 or 1-877-868-3772 or visit its website at votespa.com.

Source: http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/My-Vote-My-Right/PA

– For NJ Voter Regulations, Go To: http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/My-Vote-My-Right/NJ

– For DE. Voter Regulations, Go To: http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/My-Vote-My-Right/DE

– For Voter Registration Regulations Across the USA, Go To: http://www.aflcio.org/Legislation-and-Politics/My-Vote-My-Right/

BY Bruce Vail

– This week, Republican Senators introduced a bill they call the “The National Labor Relations Board Reform Act.” Its chances of passage are very slim, but that’s beside the point: The GOP wants to emphasize its displeasure with President Barack Obama’s appointments of labor-friendly board members who thwart businesses’ attempts to keep unions out of their workplaces.

The key feature of the bill would neuter the board (already too weak by many standards) by mandating that it be made up of three Republicans and three Democrats—a prescription apparently designed to ensure permanent partisan gridlock. It would also restrict the authority of the board’s chief prosecutor and cut the operating budget of the agency if cases weren’t decided in a timely manner. Larry Cohen, President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), remarks that the bill would mean “the NLRB just can’t do anything any more—and that’s exactly what they [Republicans] want.”

“This legislation will turn the National Labor Relations Board from an advocate to the umpire it ought to be,” stated Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), in introducing the bill jointly with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). “The board is too partisan, swinging from one side to the other with each new administration—and while this didn’t start with President Obama, it’s gotten worse as he’s loaded the board with union insiders.”

Alexander’s statement came one week after the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on Obama’s nomination of Sharon Block to fill an upcoming vacancy on the NLRB. The hearing is apparently what prompted Sen. Alexander to introduce the bill. Republican members of the committee were polite to Block but openly hostile to her nomination.

Block, an unassuming career bureaucrat, has done little personally to attract opposition. She has worked as a non-partisan attorney on the NLRB staff, and was also employed by the HELP Committee from 2006 to 2009, when it was run by late Sen. Edward Kennedy. During her 18-month tenure on the board in 2012-2013, she voted with other Democrats in controversial cases, but this sort of voting pattern has been the norm for decades for appointees from either party. Her time on the board was cut short when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Noel Canning v. NLRB case last year that Block’s recess appointment was unconstitutional, forcing her departure.

Alexander, who serves as the highest-ranking Republican on the panel, set the tone of the hearing by beginning with a long complaint about Block’s tenure on the board. Block “chose … to create confusion and instability” by accepting the unconstitutional recess appointment in the first place, Sen. Alexander claimed, and “revealed a troubling lack of respect for the Constitution” by continuing to serve even after a lower federal court had ruled against the recess appointment. Furthermore, she “demonstrated a willingness to tilt the playing field toward organized labor” in her voting record as an NLRB member, he charged.

Despite the criticisms by Sen. Alexander and other Republicans, Obama quietly reappointed Block to the NLRB in July. If confirmed, she will fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Nancy J. Schiffer, whose term expires in December.

Block has thus become the most recent locus of long-standing partisan disagreement over the NLRB. This was demonstrated clearly last week with a number of Senate HELP Committee Democrats—Chair Tom Harkin (Iowa), Chris Murphy (Connecticut), Bob Casey Jr. (Pennsylvania) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)—all speaking in her defense, while unfriendly questioning came from Republicans Alexander, Orrin Hatch (Utah) and Tim Scott (South Carolina).

CWA’s Cohen says Alexander’s remarks about Block are a gross misrepresentation of the facts, and his new bill is evidence of his anti-worker bias.

The attacks on Block are “pure victimization,” Cohen says. Republicans in the Senate have consistently delayed and obstructed Obama’s appointments to federal offices, he says, and the recess appointment of Block was simply a response to this obstruction. Whatever political differences exist between Obama and Sen. Alexander, he adds, it is unfair to impugn the integrity and professional qualifications of Block.

According to Cohen, Senate Republicans are aiming to delay or derail Block’s nomination because they fundamentally object to any government action that favors workers or unions over the financial interests of business. “Let’s face it, people like Alexander don’t believe in the National Labor Relations Act”—which established the NLRB in 1936—“and they would prefer that the NLRB do nothing,” he says. “That’s why they are against Sharon Block, just as they have been against every Democrat that Obama has nominated.”

Cohen says it is hard to predict whether Block would be confirmed by the full Senate in time for her to succeed Schiffer when she departs in December. If the five-member board is reduced to four—two Democrats and two Republicans—the result could be gridlock.

New Senate rules prevent the indefinite delay of appointments, so Cohen believes Block will ultimately be confirmed on a strict party-line vote. But some 300 other nominees for other federal positions are also awaiting a vote, he notes, so no quick action is anticipated.

Source: http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/17179/republican_nlrb_reform_act_would_paralyze_labor_board

By The PA. AFL-CIO

– Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder offered the following remarks on the news of Pennsylvania’s early fiscal crisis, due to Governor Corbett’s lack of leadership on the recent budget.

“The fact that the Commonwealth had to borrow money so early in this new fiscal year is cause for concern and illustrates the failure by Governor Corbett to lead on both fiscal and economic policies. His economic policies have failed to create the sufficient number of jobs he promised to put us on more solid ground both fiscally and economically. Whoever is our next Governor is going to face difficult choices due to the failures of this administration,” President Bloomingdale said.

“The balanced budgets that Governor Corbett talks about in his campaign commercials are not real. They are not balanced and not on time as today’s news indicates. Governor Corbett’s budget is filled with holes and gimmicks as far as the eye can see. He has failed to lead on jobs and on balancing the budget and we continue to fall further behind our neighboring states,” Secretary-Treasurer Snyder said.

President Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Snyder expressed their gratitude to State Treasurer Rob McCord and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale for providing the most prudent fiscal rescue plan and for sharing their concerns with the public.

Source: http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=4594&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook