Bird’s-Eye View

I don’t get it. The state Senate reversed course just a few moments ago and approved the same smoking ban bill they voted down last week. Today’s vote was 41-9 in favor. Last week’s vote was 31-19 against. The same exemptions (bars and taverns with 20 percent or less revenue from food; cigar bars; private […]

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We at the Nest are taking out our Army helmets. The political bombs at the state Capitol are flying back and forth as Republicans and Democrats launch daily salvos. Here’s today’s damage report:

Senate Republicans unveiled their own health care reform package they say only costs $100 million and would cover 500,000 Pennsylvanians currently uninsured. That’s […]

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The Nest looked at the calendar and saw only three weeks remain before the state budget deadline, and the drums are beating in Harrisburg over the possible furlough of state employees. If you remember last year, when Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Senate Republicans couldn’t compromise on the budget, state workers were shut out of […]

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Whatever you can do I can do better … That’s the feeling out of Harrisburg now that Gov. Rendell’s administration is threatening to furlough state workers if the budget isn’t passed by June 30, according to the Associated Press:
Naomi Wyatt, Gov. Ed Rendell’s secretary of administration, told state employees that if the governor and Legislature […]

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And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more unpredictable, the state Senate rejected the smoking ban compromise 31-19. The overriding issue was the prohibition in the bill on local municipalilties enacting their own, tougher smoking bans.
This issue has morphed into a significant road block for the proposed smoking ban. Last month, Democratic Gov. […]

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Senate Republicans in Harrisburg today announced they would not convene a “lame duck” session after the Nov. 4 election. While GOP leaders are hailing this decision as another step in government reform, it ups by one month the deadline for a profound amount of legislation - mainly Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposals for health care […]

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Press conference tomorrow at the state Capitol. Sen. Pat Browne, who’s helped lead the charge to undo the state’s Corporate Net Income Tax in exchange for a tax based on sales, will lead the event.

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An interesting piece by Pete DeCoursey of Capitol Wire running in tomorrow’s Intell about how Democratic state Sen. Vince Fumo of Philadelphia essentially sunk the proposed marriage amendment, championed by Lancaster County’s state Sen. Mike Brubaker.
According to DeCoursey, Fumo had corralled 30 votes in the 50-member Senate, dominated by Republicans, to eliminate the “functional equivalent” language from the […]

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This week’s decision by state Senate Republicans to table the proposed marriage amendment may just be a lesson in political realism. While they say a majority of Pennsylvanians would support such an amendment should it be put to a referendum, that doesn’t mean a majority of Pennsylvanians want such a referendum. Marriage and just who should […]

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The proposed marriage amendment, which supporters say will prevent judges from legalizing civil unions and gay marriage, moved forward today when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved it 18-8. Look to Wednesday for a full vote on the floor of the GOP-controlled Senate, and that may prove to be this bill’s highwater mark. With Democrats in […]

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