Report to the 86

Legislative District

Rep. Mark Keller’s

Winter 2009

w w w.

RepKeller

c o m

State Budget Relies Too Much on One-Time Funding Sources

When the final state budget was presented to the General Assembly in early October, I voted against thespending plan because it was not financially responsible and drained the state’s reserve accounts in oneyear instead of retaining some of these funds for future years.The $27.8 billion budget completely drains both the Rainy Day Fund and the Health Care Provider Retention Account and transfers $100 million from the state’s MCare fund to the general fund. Although theCommonwealth faced a serious decline in revenue during the 2008-09 fiscal year, the best approach wouldhave been to eliminate wasteful and unnecessary spending.This budget also includes funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now(ACORN), which has come under intense national scrutiny for allegedly advising people on how to violatestate and federal laws. Until this issue is resolved, not one penny of taxpayer dollars should be funneled tothis organization.Although I voted against the budget due to its excessive spending and taxation, the General Assemblywas successful in blocking the governor from increasing the state’s Personal Income Tax (PIT), which hehad pushed for since the middle of June. He claimed that Pennsylvanians understood the need to raisetaxes to rescue the Commonwealth from financial disaster; however, he failed to realize that each of youalready pay more than enough of your income to federal, state and local governments.In addition, fire halls, fraternal organizations, and veterans groups have been protected becauselawmakers were able to stave off a tax on small games of chance that was pushed by the governor andseveral legislative leaders as a way to increase revenue. While spending is greater than I believe the statecan afford, the final budget does spend $1.1 billion less than was originally proposed by the governor backin February. This is a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go to control state governmentspending in future budgets.I believe it is now incumbent for the General Assembly as a whole to put measures in place to preventa repeat of this year in the future. As a result, I am co-sponsoring a House resolution introduced by Rep.Glen Grell (R-Cumberland) that would call upon the Speaker of the Houseto create a Commission on Budgetary Reform modeled after the Speaker’sCommission on Legislative Reform in 2007, which proposed severallegislative reform measures to change the operating rules of the House.The commission would be charged with draftingrecommendations to improve the budgeting process, including:

• Establishing ﬁxed time lines and milestones in the budgetprocess, with consequences if milestones are not achieved.• Adopting performance-based budget principles into the annualappropriations process.• Affording greater involvement in the process by every member of the House.• Implementing continuity provisions for state governmentoperations in the event of a future impasse

More Than $61 Million Flowing to Local School Districts

The state budget included an additional $300 million in state funding for basic education, and the passthrough of more than $715 million from the federal stimulus package. All told, school districts throughout the86th District are slated to receive nearly $61.3 million in total funding for the 2009-10 school year, which is$7.4 million more than last year.The following is a breakdown of funds ﬂowing to school districts:

School District 2008-09 2009-10 Increase

Chambersburg Area $ 22,334,277 $ 25,932,296 $ 3,598,019 16.1%Fannett-Metal $ 2,498,923 $ 2,889,303 $ 390,380 15.6% Greenwood $ 3,699,965 $ 4,070,594 $ 370,629 10% Newport $ 6,370,743 $ 7,000,829 $ 630,086 9.9% Susquenita $ 9,069,032 $ 10,190,522 $ 1,121,490 12.4% West Perry $ 9,842,042 $ 11,195,259 $ 1,353,217 13.8%Education is certainly a priority for me, and I am glad that the General Assembly has provided additionalfunding for education. At the same time, we need to be fiscally responsible now so that Pennsylvanians arenot burdened in the future with the painful tax increases that often accompany unsustainable spending lev-els.Of special note, I caution the administration and the school board of each district in implementing newprograms that in the future may not have a dedicated funding stream. This year’s increases in educationfunding are tremendous; however, when the federal stimulus funds run out in 2011, and depending onhow local school officials use this money now could place a substantial financial burden on those who payproperty taxes.

More Than $11 Million Slated for Road and Bridge Repairs

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has designated more than $11 millionfor road and bridge repairs in Perry and Franklin counties.This is excellent news for the residents of the 86th District. Several local roadways are in need of repair and I am pleased that our area will receive funding to help accomplish this goal.In February, the president signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA),which will funnel more than $1 billion to repair roads and bridges throughout the Commonwealth.PennDOT has been working with the 23 Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations to securetheir lists of high priority projects, and I am pleased that Perry County was included.Although most of the funding is provided through ARRA, a small portion is provided by stategovernment.Road and bridge projects throughout the district include:

Perry County

• $1.4 million for resurfacing of Route 274 from Route 850 to Centre/Spring township line in Tyroneand Spring townships.• $2.1 million for restoration of the bridge carrying Pine Grove Road (Route 233) over Sherman’sCreek including the approaches between Weavers Road and Carlisle Street in Tyrone Township.• $1.7 million for restoration of the bridge carrying Waggoners Gap Road (Route 74) over Sherman’sCreek in Spring Township.

Franklin County

• $4.9 million for resurfacing of US Route 30 from Jack Road in St. Thomas Township to Hilltop Drivein Hamilton Township.• $952,000 for resurfacing of Fort Loudon Road in Peters Township. These areas have been in major need of repair for quite some time. It’s great when the people of the 86th District can witness their tax dollars being used to improve local roads.

Applications Now BeingAccepted for Home HeatingAssistance

Pennsylvania’sLow-Income HomeEnergy AssistanceProgram (LIHEAP)is now acceptingapplications for cashgrants. Crisis grantswill be available onJan. 4, 2010.LIHEAP helpslow-income peoplepay their heatingbills through homeenergy assistancegrants and crisisgrants. Cashgrants are awardedbased on household income, family size, typeof heating fuel and region. Crisis grants areprovided in the event of a heating emergency,including broken heating equipment or leakinglines that must be fixed or replaced, lack of fuel, termination of utility service or danger of being without fuel or of having utility serviceterminated. In most counties, assistance withhome heating crisis situations is available 24hours a day.Applications are available at the Perry CountyAssistance Office located at 100 Centre Drive inNew Bloomfield, phone 1-800-991-1929, or atthe Franklin County Assistance Office located at602 Norland Avenue in Chambersburg, phone1-800-921-8839. Applications are also availablefrom local utility companies and communityservice agencies, such as Area Agencies onAging or community action agencies. LIHEAPcash grant applications are available online at

compass.state.pa.us.

Income eligibility for cash grants begins at$33,075 for a family of four.For complete eligibility requirementsand additional information on LIHEAP, visit

RepKeller.com

and click on

“LIHEAPInformation.”

Still Time to File for PropertyTax/Rent Rebate

Residents of the 86th District are reminded that thedeadline to file for the state’s 2008 Property Tax/RentRebate program is Dec. 31.Eligible participants can receive a rebate of upto $650 based on their rent or property taxes paid in2008. The program benefits eligible Pennsylvanianswho are 65 years or older, widows and widowers50 years or older, and those 18 years or older withpermanent disabilities.Eligibility income limits for homeowners wereexpanded last year to the following levels, excluding50 percent of Social Security, Supplemental SecurityIncome, and Railroad Retirement Tier 1 benefits:• $0 and $8,000, up to $650 rebate(Homeowners and renters) • $8,001 to $15,000, up to $500 rebate(Homeowners and renters) • $15,001 to $18,000, up to $300 rebate(Homeowners only) • $18,001 to $35,000, up to $250 rebate(Homeowners only)The Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is one of five programs supported by the Pennsylvania Lottery,which dedicates its proceeds to support programs for older Pennsylvanians.Property Tax/Rent Rebate claim forms areavailable by contacting my Perry County office at582-8119 or my Franklin County office at 267-2047, or by visiting

RepKeller.com

. In addition, individuals canalso check the status of an existing rebate claim, byclicking on

“Where’s My Property Tax Refund?”

Rep. Mark Keller presented a House citation to AustinGordon of Sherman’s Dale,son of Bill and Lori Gordon,for earning the rank of EagleScout. Austin cleared brushand trees from an old churchcemetery near Sherman’sDale. He also repaired 24damaged stones and reset and leveled 78 additional stones.Rep. Keller presented a House citation toMathiew Cornell of Duncannon, son of Ronald and CynthiaCornell, for earning therank of Eagle Scout.Mathiew was recognized for restoring the DellvilleUnion Cemetery.Rep. Keller presented a House citationto Aaron Womer of Sherman’s Dale,son of Dwayne and Kim Womer, for earning the rank of Eagle Scout. Aaron was recognized for a major community project, which included landscaping and the placement of amarker at the Christ Lutheran Churchin New Bloomﬁeld, which was formerly the Old Log Union Church.

Area Youth Earn the Rank of Eagle Scout

Rep. Mark Keller presented a House citationto Mike and Matt Hogan of Millerstown, sonsof Michael and Vickie Hogan, for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Mike tore down and rebuilt a new equipment shed at Greenwood High School athletic ﬁeld, which will be used for announcements during soccer and ﬁeld hockey games. Matt built a picnic pavilion at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Liverpool,which will be used for picnics, outreach and fellowship programs.