I only had one office appointment today and a luncheon, so I got more paperwork done than usual. I also did a couple of newspaper interviews, one on local government and one on the Marriage Protection Amendment. We spend a lot of time in the office planning events and today included problems with one coming up. We eventually got things straightened out, but no matter how much you try, there always seems to be issues that you don’t foresee. The Mike Veon case went to the jury this afternoon. I mentioned last night that this should be a slam dunk. Watching how long the jury is out might be an indication of how conclusive the prosecution’s case was. Everyone in Harrisburg is watching this and some are watching because they might be next.

- John

I had a several appointments in the office today and went to an awards dinner tonight in Altoona. The Altoona Area Christian Coalition recognized four people that are “Remarkable Signs of Hope”. It was a nice event. Every time you don’t think that the world can work itself out of the awful jam it’s in, you see people like those recognized tonight and it lets you know there’s hope. There wasn’t too much state wide news today. The Veon Bonusgate case is winding down. The defense finished their case without having Mike Veon testify. This was apparently a surprise to the press who thought that he would. All that remains are closing arguments. After three years and 10 million bucks, this case should be a slam dunk for the prosecution, we’ll see.

- John

I’m back from Harrisburg and glad to be home. It was one of those weeks at the capitol that makes me really wonder about the future of our Commonwealth. I have seen a good conservative organization lose credibility, a proposal for legislation based solely on poll numbers and the state’s budget secretary criticize a new office that would provide more financial information to the legislature. The world of state government is often upside down. It seems that the entire system is worse than ever. Just when many in the conservative movement thought that we were gaining on the tax and spend liberals who espouse shallow ideas that protect the status quo, we see the enemy within. Brighter days may be ahead, but we must fight to get them.

- John

I was proud and pleased to have as my guests on the floor today, Dr. Zane Gates and Steeler great Deshea Townsend. Both men were here to help promote the free clinic legislation that Senator Ted Erikson introduced last year. We have been meeting with many people in state government and everyone thinks that this is a winning model for real health care, not health insurance. Everyone that is, except the Governor. He has the old system, of issuing access cards to people, stuck in his head. This system is far too costly and doesn’t really provide care, it just provides insurance. Many doctors will not accept access cards and therefore, no health care is provided. The free clinics plan could be adopted nationwide. So far, it has made too much sense to see its way through the legislative process. Maybe our dire financial straits will provide the opportunity to switch away from doing the same old thing. I can only hope that many opportunities for change are provided as things get tougher and that the Governor and legislature have the wisdom and guts to make big changes to existing ways of doing business.

- John

I’m back in Harrisburg and ready to get back to a regular session schedule. We voted on a few bills today, and have several more scheduled for the next couple of days. The House is working on the Governor’s budget bill and expects to have a vote on it on March 22nd. Not only is this a bad bill for the obvious reasons of too much spending, no reform and not enough revenue to support itself, it is also starting from a number that is not correct. We just had another month where the revenues fell well short of projections. We are approaching about a $500,000 shortfall right now. The Governor says we will be short $525,000 by June 30. No one thinks that will be the case. These actions do not bode well for getting the budget done on time. Unfortunately, starting this far apart and using bad figures, makes it very difficult to work out a realistic budget. It’s no wonder he has never gotten a budget done on time.

- John