Week in Review: Lawmakers talk top issues before taking off til June

By   /  May 17, 2013  /  Pennsylvania  /  No Comments

PENNSYLVANIA STATE CAPITOL

By PA Independent Staff
HARRISBURG — About a month and a half out from Pennsylvania’s constitutional deadline to get a state budget completed, the state’s lawmakers are still grappling with high-profile debates on an assortment of matters.
This week saw multiple hearings dig deep into long-term issues like public school curriculums, liquor privatization and open records law [...]

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No cost? Not quite: Self-funded PA website contract costing up to $2.6M

By   /  May 16, 2013  /  Featured, News, Other News, Pennsylvania, State Government  /  No Comments

WEB WORK: The Office of Administration says server outages may be a thing of the past once its new contract for web services with NIC is up and running.

A state lawmaker continues to raise red flags about a website redesign and management contract.

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Political nonprofit skirts Pennsylvania election law in name of accountability

By   /  May 16, 2013  /  News, Pennsylvania  /  No Comments

CorbettShellGame

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — A new political nonprofit claims to be holding Gov. Tom Corbett accountable on behalf of Pennsylvanians.
But the group comes up short on the accountability scale, itself.
The Pittsburgh-based nonprofit is called Pennsylvanians for Accountability, and in recent weeks it has been airing television ads attacking Corbett’s policies for supposedly short-changing [...]

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PA Dems press governor on Medicaid expansion

By   /  May 15, 2013  /  Featured, Issues, Medicaid, News, Pennsylvania, State Budgets, State Government  /  No Comments

CAPITOL DECISIONS: Medicaid expansion continues to hang over Gov. Tom Corbett and budget-making lawmakers.

By Eric Boehm | PA Independent
HARRISBURG – Democratic leaders in the General Assembly say Gov. Tom Corbett has delayed long enough on a decision about expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania.
And if the governor won’t make a decision, they are ready to force his hand.
“If Gov. Corbett is unwilling to do the right thing, my colleagues in [...]

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What’s in your package? PA distributors may get to sell six-packs

By   /  May 14, 2013  /  News, Pennsylvania, State Government  /  No Comments

CHEERS: Privatization debates in the Pennsylvania General Assembly could mean changes to where Pennsylvanians can buy six packs.

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent
HARRISBURG — A simple six-pack of beer is becoming a focal point of the most substantive legislative debate on Pennsylvania alcohol laws since Prohibition.
A Tuesday afternoon Senate Law and Justice Committee on liquor privatization, headed by Chairman Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks, featured numerous testifiers discussing the already-private industry of beer sales.
Chief [...]

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