Rep. John C. Bear, a Lititz Republican, scheduled a rally in support of a bill that would end project labor agreements in Pennsylvania, contracts he says reward unions with large contracts and drive up the cost of taxpayer-funded projects.
The local trade unions found out about it. They drowned out the lawmaker’s supporters with chants of […]

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Republican state Reps. Scott Boyd and Bryan Cutler were among a group of GOP lawmakers who drafted a letter to the president encouraging him to examine their 14-bill health care-reform package.
“We recognize that you may not approve of every suggestion offered, but we are open to suggestions that may help us find an agreement […]

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Today’s subject: former state Rep. Gibson C. Armstrong.

The state Senate has confirmed Armstrong to the board of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority. The authority finances innovative clean-energy projects such as solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal through grants, loans and loan guarantees. Armstrong is the son of former Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong. The junior Armstrong held […]

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So I can’t sleep and roll out of bed at 2:30 a.m. and happen to flip on PCN (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) and there’s the House-Senate conference committee. I watch a half hour. And I come to the conclusion that Pennsylvania is no closer to having a budget that it was […]

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As it turns out, a Lancaster County pastor is behind that recent kerfuffle over opening prayers in the House — specifically those mentioning “Jesus” or other specific religious figures. House leaders objected to a prayer delivered on June 10 by Pastor Jamie Mitchell, of NewSong Fellowship Church on Prospect Street in Lancaster, and drafted a […]

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Lancaster County’s Republican state House delegation is putting pressure on leaders of the higher-education system and Millersville University to cancel an upcoming lecture by radical-turned-professor William Ayers. The county’s seven GOP lawmakers say Ayers’ appearance would represent “an inappropriate promotion of a man whose history includes violence against the United States of America.”
Their remarks were […]

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From the office of state Sen. Lloyd Smucker:
In celebration of President’s Day, the James Buchanan Foundation, Lancaster County Historical Society and Senator Lloyd Smucker will host an interview with President James Buchanan on Monday, February 16, from 1 pm to 2 pm.  The interview will be held at Wheatland, the Lancaster estate of the 15th […]

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From today’s “Politically Uncorrected” by G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young:
1.    The State is Struggling with an Operating Deficit and Not a Structural Deficit. The distinction is crucial. An operating deficit occurs when projected revenues for a fiscal year are less than projected expenditures. Operating deficits are temporary and self-correcting when business conditions improve. […]

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Apparently there were lots of catcalls from Republicans when Gov. Ed Rendell, addressing the Legislature during his annual budget address Wednesday, proposed legalizing and taxing video poker. “I do not view the legalization of video poker as the first step in an attempt to expand gaming,” the governor said. The way Ed sees it, there […]

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Sen. Lloyd Smucker, a Republican from West Lampeter Township

Sen. Mike Brubaker, a Republican from Warwick Township

Sen. Mike Folmer, a Republican from Lebanon

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