I spent the entire day in Bedford. I attended the quarterly Southern Alleghenies RC&D meeting then hit the Bedford office for a minute then did my annual tour of the Bedford County Fair. We went over a fairly new agriculture concept today at the meeting, having outsiders buy into a vegetable patch. Some farmers are planting vegetables for people who pay fees to him or her to plant what they want. Sometimes trades are worked out in lieu of cash for weeding or other chores. The farmer makes money and the buyers get the fresh veggies they want. With milk prices where they have been, many farmers are looking for additional ways to make a dollar. This can work for at least some of them. I thought it was a novel idea. I’d try it, if I were a farmer.

-John

I did my every other Thursday radio program this afternoon.  We veered from our scheduled topic to discuss the federal court’s stay of Arizona’s illegal emigration law.  This decision and the President’s position pose significant threats to our current balance of power as we know it.  Not only are state’s rights threatened and the courts acting beyond their constitutional boundaries, the question is raised about the administration enforcing only the parts of laws they want to enforce.  A federal law, state law or local ordinance is the law.    A law is to be enforced in its entirety, it is not the role of any executive official to hand pick laws or segments of laws that are to be enforced and purposely not enforce others.  This is what is happening in this situation and that is scary.

-John

The Senate Transportation Committee held another hearing today.  This time the subject was the PA Turnpike.  The biggest news appears to be the discovery of a previously unknown perk to Turnpike employees, the use of the highway for free.  Employees are either issued an EZ Pass or flash their Turnpike ID card to ride without paying a toll.  I don’t think the members of the committee were upset about employees going to and from work stations, the concern was about personal use.  The Turnpike official explained that the employees are not permitted to use this privilege for other than official business, but admitted that there was no tracking system to check on the usage.  This reminds me of the bill we recently passed requiring tracking of state vehicles because there were stories of people going to the beach on vacation, etc. with a state car.  Senator John Rafferty told the Turnpike to fix the problem or the legislature will fix it for you.  Way to go John!

-John

The Governor is finally saying publicly that he doesn’t think the $850 million of federal money is coming. He scheduled a meeting with the leadership of the General Assembly for Monday to go over the options. Of course, the Senate wanted the options before the budget was passed, but that’s the Governor. At least, it appears the legislature will have input into what happens. Don’t rule out a stance from the Governor where he holds out for tax increases and blames the legislature for not cooperating. I know this doesn’t make sense, and he knew the risk when he insisted that the money be included in the budget before the federal allocation was approved by Congress, but again, that’s the Governor.

-John

I’ve met with several constituents lately who’ve been upset about Pennsylvania’s divorce, custody and child support laws. This broad issue has been on my priority list since coming to the Senate, but I have not yet pursued drafting legislation. I am planning to tackle this problem soon. Most everyone agrees that the current laws are unfair, reward (or at least, do not punish) bad behavior, are costly for those involved, take forever through the courts, and are administered differently from judge to judge. There appears to be no penalties at all for breaking the marriage contract. In fact, some people break it and receive more expendable money while single or as a single parent. Putting aside abusive or other mitigating situations, a party in a marriage can certainly decide to change his or her life, but why should the other party be penalized? Common sense says that these rules should change. I hope common sense can prevail.

-John