STATE REPRESENTATIVE
U.S. POSTAGE
Keith Gillespie
Your Representative to the State House
Spring 2010
Dear Friends:
This certainly has been an interesting winter with
the amount of snow we’ve had to endure. Fortunately,
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spring.
At the state Capitol, it is budget season. Members
of the General Assembly are just beginning to
undertake the task of putting together a spending plan
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economic conditions we are experiencing as a state
and a country.
This will be a challenging task, just as you and
your household face tough spending decisions. As
members of the Legislature, we must lead by example
and continue to be good stewards of your hard-earned
taxpayer dollars.
Governor Ed Rendell has laid out his thoughts
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some of the highlights of his proposal and offer you
an opportunity to provide feedback on these ideas.
As a state representative, I am charged with serving
my constituents and being your voice in Harrisburg. It
is a responsibility I do not take lightly. Because of that,
we need to have a conversation about the budget. This
newsletter is designed to initiate that discussion.
Sincerely,
Keith Gillespie
PRSRT STD
PAID
HARRISBURG, PA
PERMIT NO. 529
House Committee Approves
Gillespie Bill Mandating Payment
of Court Costs by Defendants in
Criminal Cases
HARRISBURG – The House Judiciary Committee has
unanimously approved my legislation requiring defendants in criminal
cases to be responsible for payment of all court costs associated with
their prosecution. Conversations with York County Clerk of Courts
Don O’Shell inspired me to author House Bill 2119.
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lawsuit against the Commonwealth on the basis of it deducting money
from his inmate account to pay the costs of his 1996 trials, all because
of a lack of a court order. Spotz won that suit, thus setting a precedent
for a number of other prison inmates to inquire about having their
situations re-evaluated. The result has been costly to York County.
O’Shell says requests to date for reimbursement made by inmates
as a result of the Spotz decision have cost York County approximately
$100,000.
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fees, subpoenas and transportation. Court costs in the Spotz case vary
with the different trials in different counties, ranging from $10,000 to
$12,000.
The bill, which is being considered by the House Appropriations
Committee, mandates the payment of court costs by defendants,
whether judges address that during sentencing or not.
Budget Breakdown
Last month, Governor Rendell issued his budget address and
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Spending
The good news is the governor’s budget proposal relies on no
broad-based tax increases. The 2010-11 total General Fund budget
is $29 billion – an increase of $1.15 billion or 4.1 percent after
accounting for the use of nearly $2.7 billion in Federal stimulus
funds in 2009-10 and nearly $2.8 billion in 2010-11. The major
spending increases in this budget come in basic education, public
welfare, corrections and debt service.
Continued on page 2...
RepGillespie.com
Continued from page 1...
The proposal is dependent on two major sources of revenue. It assumes approximately $800 million in Federal welfare
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of balance.
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billion in new spending at a time when projections have us facing a $525 million shortfall this year.
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HPSOR\¿scal restraint in negotiating our current budget, which is why I voted against the plan. Were the governor’s
proposal placed on the table right now, I would vote in a similar fashion.
Members of the General Assembly are sent to Harrisburg to be effective stewards of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. We
need to rein in spending and not depend further on the people of Pennsylvania.

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Rendell Proposes New Taxes
While there are no broad-based tax increases in this budget proposal, the plan does call for more than $1 billion in tax
increases.
Pennsylvania remains the only state in the nation that does not tax smokeless tobacco and is one of only two states that does
not tax cigars. The governor’s plan includes a tax on both smokeless tobacco and cigars at 30 percent of their wholesale value.
Some estimates have these taxes generating $41.6 million in Fiscal Year 2010-11.
You may have heard of the Marcellus shale natural gas reserve, the geologic formation believed to contain as much as 500 V
trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In a recent Marcellus shale land lease sale, the Commonwealth received more than twice the t
revenue it expected. The governor feels the industry can bear a modest tax — 5 percent of value, plus 4.7 cents per 1,000 cubic t
feet of gas produced — without hurting industry growth.
As an avid outdoorsman and member of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, I am concerned with the effect F
excessive drilling will have on the environment. On the other hand, I have never been a proponent of tax increases, and am g
hesitant to go that route in penalizing an industry that could address our energy needs in a time of rising electric rates that will l
already be costly to consumers. a
This newsletter contains survey questions dealing with both the Marcellus shale and proposed tobacco tax issues. I am
particularly interested in your comments and answers to these questions as I gauge the opinion of the residents of the 47th R
District. p
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RepGillespie.com
 Sales Tax Reduction and Expansion
Governor Rendell has proposed reducing the state sales tax to 4 percent and eliminating 74 tax exemptions. He says the
concept would result in $531.5 million in revenue raised during the 2010-1¿VFDO\HDU7KRVHIXQGVZLOOEHSODFHGLQDQHZ
Stimulus Transition Reserve Fund to help balance Pennsylvania’s 2011-12 budget when federal stimulus funding ends and the
state’s pension obligations begin to increase.
In 2010-11, the federal government is projected to provide Pennsylvania with $2.8 billion in stimulus funding, but only
$500 million of these funds will be available in 2011-12. Unless steps are taken today, the commonwealth will be faced with
the choice of drastic spending cuts or massive tax increases.
The list of 74 items to be taxed does not include food, clothing, prescription medications, health care services and
educational tuition; however, it is the governor’s wish to attach a sales tax to the purchase of items such as accounting and
bookkeeping services, basic television, coal, legal fees, magazines, newspapers, residential electric, residential fuel oil and gas
and residential telephone service.
The entire list of proposed repealed exemptions is available on my Web site, RepGillespie.com, under Budget News.
While I take issue with many of the items on this list, I stand particularly opposed to those dealing with fuel and utility
costs. Most York countians are preparing to bear the impact of the lifting of electric rate caps at the end of this year. A tax on
residential electric use would place a further burden on hard-working taxpayers and is something I cannot support.

What Property Tax Relief?

The overwhelming topic brought up by the people I meet continues to be property tax relief. The governor addressed this
in his budget proposal by saying Pennsylvania homeowners, on average, will continue to receive nearly $200 in state-funded
property tax relief – with even more savings for older adults who have the most urgent need. This is not enough.
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nothing to keep that promise. During the debate about expanded gaming last year, we attempted to have table games revenue
diverted to the Property Tax Relief Fund. The legislation was defeated on a party line vote.
We will make strides toward relieving the burden of property tax relief when we learn to effectively fund our schools. The
York County delegation was instrumental in bringing about the costing-out study, which dealt with the funding formula. We
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Right now, we are simply blanketing the state with education dollars and not taking into consideration areas such as York
County where substantial growth has taken place. We need to account for the growing areas of the Commonwealth and not
spend haphazardly. The wise use of your hard-earned taxpayer dollars will move closer to more equitable funding of education
and less dependency on property taxes.

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Pending Pension Crisis
Pennsylvania is one of many states facing a shortfall in public
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touched on pension reform, the governor has taken no action to address
the upcoming rate spike.
Causes of the spike include diminished return on investment in
Fiscal Year 2007-08. A series of decisions by the our Legislature and
governor have delayed the full impact for the last few years, but costs of
less than $1 billion a year now are projected to climb to about $6 billion
annually in the coming three years.
The House Republican Caucus has assigned its Government
Reform Task Force the duty of providing a workable solution to the
pending pension crisis. As this issue continues to progress, additional
roundtable discussions and hearings will be held.
Options to address this issue include increasing the funding of the I recently welcomed to the state Capitol students from
Wrightsville Elementary School in the Eastern York School
system, decrease liabilities of the system or defer the liabilities.
District. If you would like to schedule a tour for your school
Some pension reform alternatives include: RUJURXSSOHDVHFRQWDFWP\+DUULVEXUJRI¿FHDW
(717) 705-7167.
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based on a formula using factors such as salary history and
duration of employment.
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program where members each have an individual
account (or accounts) that accumulate employee contributions
and/or employer contributions and investment return.
• Hybrid Plan- incorporating valuable features of each of the above.

RepGillespie.com

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