The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – A final 26-24 vote Wednesday night (Dec. 14,2011) in the Pennsylvania Senate confirmed months of work by legislators who created a new decennial map of the state’s congressional districts, which The Pennsylvania Independent online news service said had been “drawn in behind-closed-door meetings,” unveiled only a day earlier (Tuesday, Dec. 13), and conducted without input from the public or the state legislature’s Democrat minority.

Rep. Jim Gerlach

The process “has reignited a debate about the proper way to draw new districts,” The Independent reported.

The new maps must now be approved by the state House of Representatives, which is scheduled to vote on the measure Monday (Dec. 19)

Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township is significantly affected by the redistricting. It has been represented for the past 10 years by Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, whose 15th District primarily covered the Lehigh Valley. If the new maps are approved, as is expected, the township would be consolidated with the borough of Pottstown, and Upper and West Pottsgrove townships into a re-configured 6th District represented by Republican Rep. Jim Gerlach.

Gerlach’s district already includes Limerick Township.

Representation by one congressman of so many contiguous municipalities is seen as a boon for local governments and politicians who oversee them and, by extension, their constituents. Area observers believe uniting under a greater Pottstown banner in a single district better focuses municipal interests at the federal level on consensus issues like improvements to U.S. Route 422 and economic development.

On the other hand, it also means Lower Pottsgrove, which had been working with Dent’s office, would begin somewhat anew with Gerlach … even though local officials know and have collaborated with him before.

New congressional districts must be redrawn every decade following the national census to reflect shifts in population, but every state undertakes that process in their own way. Pennsylvania Democrats charged Wednesday that the controlling Republican majority unfairly chopped and reassembled districts in puzzle-like fashion for their own electoral advantage.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “PA lawmakers say redistricting process unfair, seek changes” and published Wednesday by The Independent, here.

Other coverage:

• Pa. Senate Passes Congressional Map 26-24 (Politics In PA)
• State Senate approves congressional redistricting plan (The Independent)
• New redistricting maps ‘puzzling’ for many (The Mercury)
• Pennsylvania state Senate moves Congressional district map to House (Harrisburg Patriot-News)
• Pennsylvania’s redistricting map poised for Senate approval (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

HARRISBURG PA — Monday (Dec. 12, 2011) will be D-Day for all levels of Pennsylvania’s political redistricting process, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Thursday (Dec. 9).

With state legislative and congressional redistricting still waiting to be completed, lawmakers in charge of the two separate procedures have pointed to Monday as the day they will each take respective big steps toward finishing new maps.

At the state level, the five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission plans to hold a final voting meeting at noon to approve the new state House and Senate maps that will be used for the next decade. Republican chairmen of the House and Senate State Government Committees, which handle the drawing of the new congressional district maps, plan a joint informational meeting on the same day to make the new congressional map public for the first time.

The congressional districts have been negotiated behind closed doors, and as of Wednesday afternoon, details still needed to be worked out, said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny. Turzai said he expects the map will be ready by Monday. The new map will include only 18 congressional districts, as Pennsylvania is losing one due to lower population growth than the national average.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “PA’s congressional maps will be made public Monday” and published Thursday by The Independent, here.

HARRISBURG PA — Motorists in Pennsylvania were sent a clear message Monday (Nov. 1, 2011) by the state General Assembly:  Stop texting while driving, or get a ticket and a $50 fine, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service said.

The state Senate passed Bill 314 that bans texting while driving. The final vote in the Senate was 45-5, following a vote Monday of 186-7 in the House. Kelli Roberts, deputy director of communications for Gov. Tom Corbett, said the governor “supports it and will sign it” into law.

Under the bill, texting while driving would be a primary offense, like speeding. That means a violator can be stopped by law enforcement solely for committing the offense. Those convicted of texting while driving would face a fine of $50.

Proponents of the measure say the ban will save lives. Opponents say the ban won’t help solve the problem of distracted driving.

• Read story by reporter Caleb Taylor, titled “Texting while driving ban passes House, Senate” and published Monday by The Independent, here.
• Watch a video documentary  (above) produced by cell phone service provider AT&T that warns against texting and driving, or see it at the YouTube user account of ShareATT.

Sen. John Rafferty (center)

HARRISBURG PA – John Rafferty, whose 44th state Senate District currently includes Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships and the boroughs of Pottstown and Royersford, is likely to be among the beneficiaries of a proposal to realign Senate districts in the aftermath of last year’s U.S. Census, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Monday (Oct. 31, 2011).

Because adjacent Berks County grew by 10 percent during the last decade, and Chester County by 15 percent, western Pennsylvania will lose House and Senate seats and territory, and the southeast will gain them under redistricting plans introduced Monday by the state Legislative Reapportionment Commission. The commission has the final say on the state Senate and House maps, with no approval required by the General Assembly or Gov. Tom Corbett.

The state Supreme Court can hear challenges to the final maps, however.

Chester County will be divided among four — not six — state Senate districts after two were adjusted to keep them outside the county. Now, in addition to Sen. Andrew Dinniman, the county’s only Democrat serving in the General Assembly, The Independent said Chester will also be represented by Rafferty and fellow Republican Sens. Dominic Pileggi and Edwin Erickson.

Berks County will be divided among Rafferty and state Sens. Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill; Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery; and Judy Schwank, D-Berks, it added.

The state legislative redistricting process is distinct from the congressional redistricting process, which also is ongoing in Harrisburg. The General Assembly and the governor must approve the new congressional districts, but no legislation has been introduced.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Chester, Berks counties get new House districts” and published Monday by The Independent, here.

HARRISBURG PA – The public and state legislators could get their first look Monday (Oct. 31, 2011) at a proposal to re-draw Pennsylvania Senate and House districts in the wake of population results from the 2010 Census, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Friday (Oct. 28).

The state Legislative Reapportionment Commission, a five-member panel charged with configuring the new legislative districts, is expected to announce its preliminary plan with separate Senate and House maps, The Independent reported. In the near future, the commission must vote for one plan that will set the district lines for the next 10 years.

Its decision could have potential impacts on Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships and the borough of Pottstown, because it may alter which areas are represented by current or future politicians. Political observers claim little if any change is anticipated locally, but even they acknowledge they won’t be certain of an outcome until votes are cast.

A prime point of contention has been determining which seats should be moved from the western part of the state, where the population has declined, to the eastern half, which has seen population growth, according to The Independent.

Although Congressional redistricting also is tied to the Census, and is still being worked on in the U.S. House, it is separate from the state proposal.

•  Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “New state Senate, House districts will be announced Monday” and published Friday by The Independent, here.

HARRISBURG PA – Proposals to impose tolls on U.S. Route 422 may have fallen by the wayside, but Republicans in the state Senate – tired of waiting for Gov. Tom Corbett to address the issue of raising funds to repair Pennsylvania highways and mass transit problems – say they plan to find some of that money themselves.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman on Wednesday (Oct. 19, 2011) told The Pennsylvania Independent online news service he would support plans to increase transportation funding by $2.5 billion annually. Corman said he intends to introduce Senate Bill 4 to implement revenue-generating elements contained in an earlier report issued by Corbett’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission.

Waiting to address infrastructure funding deficiencies, as Corbett has indicated he might do, could cost drivers and taxpayers more in the long run, Corman contended. Consequently, he said he would push for raising fees to use Pennsylvania’s highways and mass transit as the only way to improve the state’s crumbling roads and bridges.

“We’re not saving our constituents money by not doing this,” Corman told The Independent in an interview. “The money is going to be spent one way or the other, so why not spend it to fix the problem?”

Pennsylvania has more than 5,200 structurally deficient bridges, the highest total in the nation, and more than 7,000 state roads are rated in poor condition, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Tolling 422 is not expected to be in the package of increased fees. That proposal was abandoned by its prime advocate, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, in hopes that recommendations from Corbett’s group would be implemented quickly.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Tired of waiting for Corbett, Senate GOP prepares transportation package” and published Wednesday by The Independent, here.

Photo from Boston.com

HARRISBURG — A new rating system proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett for public school teachers seeks to ensure that students are receiving the most efficient education in a $26 billion taxpayer-funded system, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Saturday (Oct. 15, 2011).

Some school districts have barely 50 percent of their students performing at grade level, yet more than 99 percent of teachers statewide get straight A’s in performance evaluations, according to the governor. That’s prompted him to announce a new initiative that seeks to reward good teachers and filter out ineffective ones, The Independent reported.

Overhauling the evaluation system is part of an education-reform package it said Corbett wants the General Assembly to pass before the end of the year.

“The numbers just don’t fit the result,” Corbett told the service. “Right now, the evaluation system is merely a rubber stamp, and it must change if our students are to be the beneficiaries of good, committed educators.”

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Corbett plans to grade teachers more like students” and published Saturday in The Independent, here.

Graphic from The Pennsylvania Independent

POTTSTOWN PA – Chalk this one up as a win, at least for now, for the area’s commuting public.

Traffic moves west along U.S. Route 422 at its Royersford-Trappe exit.

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) threw in the towel this week on its two-year-old proposal to impose tolls on drivers who use U.S. Route 422 from King of Prussia to the Berks County line as a means of paying for improvements there. The toll plan was heavily criticized from the start, as opponents derided it as a special tax from which they would receive questionable benefit.

“Public and political sentiment told us that people would rather see a comprehensive statewide solution than a local toll,” DVRPC Executive Director Barry Seymour conceded Tuesday (Oct. 4, 2011) on the agency’s 422plus.com website.

A state Transportation Funding and Advisory Commission in August “proposed a comprehensive package to increase funding for transportation infrastructure across Pennsylvania. Support and passage of this package will enable critical transportation improvements to proceed, without a toll,” Seymour noted.

Whether the commission’s recommendations will be fully implemented, however, remains to be seen. So, too, does whether it will generate enough money to allow substantial improvements to 422, which twice daily becomes so choked with traffic that it slows to a crawl.

Although he acknowledged the plan could currently go no further, he also added that DVRPC’s study of the issue – in partnership with PennDOT, SEPTA, and Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties – indicated “a modest toll managed by a local authority could pay for these improvements, and have them in place far faster than waiting for available funds from Harrisburg or Washington.”

In its pages, Seymour added, the study continues to maintain tolls could be a viable way to proceed if the situation on 422 worsens, or if the advisory commission’s suggestions fail to bring in enough revenue.

Those recommendations include shifting some non-roadway expenses taken from gas tax revenues, which are earmarked to pay for highway improvements, to the state general fund; renewing vehicle registrations every two years, and drivers’ licenses every eight; closing some driver license centers; and allowing uninsured motorists to pay a $500 fine instead of having their registration suspended.

As its closing volley on the subject, the partnership released 12 different downloads on most aspects of the project it studied. Among them were:

• Seymour’s cover letter;
• A summary of the study’s findings; and
• The tolling study’s traffic and revenue forecasts.

Other coverage:

• Route 422 study: Tolling may not be best option (The Mercury)
• Route 422 toll plan gets red light, on indefinite hold (Reading Eagle)
• Official: Tolling Feasible But Not Solution (Pottstown Patch)
• Plan to put tolls on Route 422 appears dead for now (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Route 422 Toll Plan Officially Dead, At Least For Now
• Lawmakers, Editorials Press On Transportation Funding
• Chamber Presents Members’ Forum On 422 Proposals
• Toll Road, Rail Line Deal Announced … NOT For 422
• Candidates Criticize DVRPC Toll Info Position
• On 422 Toll Plan, DVRPC Fights Information Requests
• Notebook Worthy (U.S. Route 422 Forum Edition)
• Drivers will subsidize new rail line in 422 tolling plan
• Agendas Abound Tonight At 422 Forum In Royersford
• Quigley Seeks Crowd As Source Of Comments On 422
• State Road Tolls A Future Funding Solution, Official Agrees
• Report Expected To Suggest Law For Road Toll Authority
• I-95 A Big Problem; 422 A Solvable Problem (With Tolls)
• Even With Tolling, 422 Might Be Free (For A Few Miles)
• County Candidates Brown, Castor Oppose 422 Tolling
• Quigley, Other Reps Questioning 422 Tolls Proposal
• 422 Toll Proposal Wins Some PA Commission Backers
• Exec Highway Group To Hear Rt. 422 Tolling As ‘Model’
• 422 Questions Answered, For Your Viewing Pleasure
• In 422 Tolling, Planners Say, Studying Doesn’t Make It So
• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

Traffic on U.S. Route 422, near Sanatoga

HARRISBURG PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers are waiting impatiently for Gov. Tom Corbett to take a stance on transportation funding initiatives, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Friday (Sept. 30, 2011).

A special Transportation Commission named by Corbett submitted a plan to the governor in August (2011) outlining $2.5 billion in new, annually recurring revenues for transportation projects. Lawmakers and newspaper editorial writers are ramping up pressure on Corbett to say whether he will take steps to increase funding for Pennsylvania infrastructure.

Leaders in the General Assembly believe the time is right to address the issue. So far, the administration has been silent.

“I expect that we’ll get an answer out of the governor in the next couple of weeks,” state Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch told The Independent. “He’s a very thoughtful man, and he is very carefully evaluating the options we gave him.”

One suggestion state Senate Transportation Chairman John Rafferty said he is confident the governor won’t have approved: tolling on U.S. Route 422.

Rafferty, who represents Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown constituents, told The Independent he wanted to “put to bed” the notion that tolls could be applied to existing non-tolled highways, even though lawmakers claim all options in the commission report remain on the table.

There is no proposal in the Legislature or in front of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to toll 422, Rafferty said.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “All eyes on Corbett when it comes to transportation plan” and published Friday by The Independent, here.

Related (to U.S. Route 422 Corridor planning):

• Lawmakers, Editorials Press On Transportation Funding
• Chamber Presents Members’ Forum On 422 Proposals
• Toll Road, Rail Line Deal Announced … NOT For 422
• Candidates Criticize DVRPC Toll Info Position
• On 422 Toll Plan, DVRPC Fights Information Requests
• Notebook Worthy (U.S. Route 422 Forum Edition)
• Drivers will subsidize new rail line in 422 tolling plan
• Agendas Abound Tonight At 422 Forum In Royersford
• Quigley Seeks Crowd As Source Of Comments On 422
• State Road Tolls A Future Funding Solution, Official Agrees
• Report Expected To Suggest Law For Road Toll Authority
• I-95 A Big Problem; 422 A Solvable Problem (With Tolls)
• Even With Tolling, 422 Might Be Free (For A Few Miles)
• County Candidates Brown, Castor Oppose 422 Tolling
• Quigley, Other Reps Questioning 422 Tolls Proposal
• 422 Toll Proposal Wins Some PA Commission Backers
• Exec Highway Group To Hear Rt. 422 Tolling As ‘Model’
• 422 Questions Answered, For Your Viewing Pleasure
• In 422 Tolling, Planners Say, Studying Doesn’t Make It So
• Former Reporter Asks Commissioners To Support 422 Tolls
• Online Survey Seeks Opinions On Local Road Congestion
• 422 Plus Project Plays Offense With FAQs Debut
• Peering Into The Future? Gov’s Bridge Proposal And 422
• Another Township Endorses 422 Master Plan
• Neighboring Limerick Supervisors Endorse 422 Master Plan
• Understand 422 Plan Endorsement, Lower Pottsgrove Advised
• Lower Pottsgrove Holds On 422 Plan Endorsement
• Engineers Claim PA Roads Worse Now Than In 2006
• Tuesday Session Tackles Funding For 422 And Elsewhere
• Tolls, Lower Pottsgrove Station Part Of 422 Plan
• Pending Decision May Affect Route 422 Projects
• Last Day For Your Say On Route 422 Plan
• Notebook Worthy (Aug. 24, 2009)
• Consultants Express Interest In Studying 422
• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
• Truckers Alerted On Highway Partnerships Bill
• In 422 Debate, Time A Hindrance And Help
• Notebook Worthy (June 29, 2009)
• Growth, Planners Say, Is 422’s Growing Problem
• Tech Used To Draw For 422 Meetings
• Route 422 Toll Meetings Next Week
• 422 Repairs, Delays Start Tuesday
• 422 Proposal, Like Traffic, Creeps Ahead
• Got A Route 422 Idea? Time To Air It
• Train Service On The Front Burner Once More

HARRISBURG PA – Amanda Holt, a piano teacher who lives in Lehigh County, is pushing state lawmakers to fix the way Pennsylvania’s legislative districts are drawn. She even drew her own version of the state legislative district maps — meticulously plotting out all 203 House districts and 50 Senate districts — while keeping existing county and municipal borders whenever possible.

Analysts praise her plan, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Thursday (Sept. 29, 2011), but said they doubt it will hold much sway with the Legislative Reapportionment Commission that’s tasked with reconfiguring congressional and state House and Senate districts to conform with 2010 Census requirements.

he way the maps are redrawn later this year could affect who represents Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick PA townships, and the borough of Pottstown, at federal and state levels during the next 10 years.

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Woman behind a different kind of redistricting plan” and published Thursday by The Independent, here.

Related:

• Woman Submits Her Own Maps to Suggest Redistricting
• Congressional Redistricting Process Under Way In Harrisburg
• Audience Packs Congressional Redistricting Hearing
• Business Of Pennsylvania Redistricting Gets Started
• Is State’s Redistricting Already Less Than Transparent?
• Local Congressmen Attend State Redistrict Meeting
• Lower Pottsgrove May Again Be In Redistricting Battle

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