PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID

HARRISBURG, PAERMIT NO. 432

State Representative

Sue Helm

O Box 202104arrisurg, PA 17120-2104

SueHelm.net

R e p r e s e n t a t i v e S u e H e l m F a l l 2 0 1 0

Compromise Resulted inNo-Tax-Increase Budget

The ﬁnal 2010-11 state appropriations billpprove on June 30 is a compromise amongompeting interests woring togeter to meette nees o Pennsyvanians.I commen egisative eaers or cratingspending plan that requires no tax increasesnd maintains tight control on the state’surse. As a usiness owner, I unerstante toug ecisions tat nee to e mae tonsure everyone invove is pease wit ten resut. Trougout my proessiona career,I have had to compromise on numerous issuesto advance an idea or proposal that is fair andquitae.Te $28.04 iion spening pan is a$202 miion 0.7 percent increase over te2009-10 uget an is $1 iion ess tan teovernor asked for in his original proposal. Inddition, the General Assembly was successfulin ocing te governors tax increaseroposas, suc as expaning te saes tax toeary a retai purcases, increasing te taxn cigarettes, an imposing new taxes on textraction o natura gas in te Marceus Saeformation and smokeless tobacco products.It’s extremely important for the residentste 104t District to unerstan teomponents o te 2010-11 state uget. A tota o our major pieces o egisationomprise te entire uget pacage. O tefour bills, I voted in support of one, which isthe actual spending plan,

ouse Bill 2279

.Tis egisation is simiar to our own personaugets in wic we etermine amounts to eai or eac category o expenitures, suc asmortgagerent payments, eectric, water, sewer,reditors, etc.

Senate Bill 1042

, which I voted against,is te states Fisca Coe. Tis egisationrovies te income to pay or te expenituresin

ouse Bi 2279

. My

vote on tis iis a resut o a commitment witin te i to

udget article continued on page 3...

Dear Neighbor:

As te summer comes to a cose, I am opeu tatyou a a woneru season, even toug we eat witsevera ot ays. During te past ew monts, I aan enjoyable time meeting with constituents, attendinglocal fairs and festivals, and traveling throughout theistrict istening to your tougts an concerns.Wen te Genera Assemy returns to session, itas severa issues to ea wit y te en o Novemer,wic is te constitutiona en to te 2009-10 session. A major issue is transportation uning to repair aneplace the thousands of miles of roads and bridgesthroughout Pennsylvania. All told, Pennsylvania isin need of nearly $3 billion to address this growingroem. Toing Interstate 80 was to assist wit tissorta; owever, te eera government rejecte testates tir appication.In addition, the taxing of the extraction of naturalgas in the Marcellus Shale formation is sure to be aot topic. During te 2010-11 uget negotiations, aarties agree to tae tis issue up in te a. I amopeu tat tis issue is aresse ogicay an airyto ensure our environment, inrastructure an taxpayersare adequately protected.As the weather prepares to turn cooler, I am hopefulyou will enjoy the remaining part of the year. If I canever e o assistance to you, pease o not esitate toconac me.On a sie note, i you are active on Faceoo, youcan now follow me at

acebook.com/RepHelm

. Iave created this page to ensure that I am able toeac out to tose wo use eectronic communication;owever, I can sti e reace via e-mai, teepone, ormy wesite at

SueHelm.net.

Sincerey,Sue HemState Representative104t District

Follow Me on Facebook

Facebook.com/RepHelm

Public Pension Systems FaceFunding Shortfall

The state House approved a bipartisan compromisethat would bring about significant changes to the PublicSchool Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and theState Employees’ Retirement System (SERS), whichcovers more than 500,000 public employees, retirees andlawmakers.For more than a year, it has been reported thatsubstantial increases in funding are necessary tokeep both systems solvent for the foreseeable future. Although my colleagues and I in the House RepublicanCaucus have been urging legislative action, HouseDemocrat leaders finally heeded our calls to find asolution.House Bill 2497, which passed the House on June16, would roll back the changes made to these systemsthat enhanced benefits in 2001 and prevent enormousincreases in school property taxes. After I took office in2007, this issue started moving to the forefront; however,many in Harrisburg thought the economy would improveand investment earnings would rise. Unfortunately, the2008-09 recession reversed this course, resulting in theproblem we are currently facing.Long-term changes, which will apply only to newhires, included in House Bill 2497 would reduce theyears of service multiplier from 2.5 percent to 2 percent,increase the vesting period from five years to 10 years,increase the retirement age to 65 for most employees,eliminate the lump sum payment option and maintainthe employee contribution rate of 7.5 percent. Thesechanges would also apply to lawmakers.Short-term changes that will address the spike inschool district (taxpayer) payments would re-amortizethe total amount of unfunded liabilities over a 30-yearperiod and phase in the increases in employer payments. Although school districts would still pay more into PSERS,it will not be as egregious if we were to do nothing.Obviously, there is a cost to this proposal. In total, itwill cost nearly $25 billion to reduce short-term costs. Ibelieve this approach is necessary to prevent significantproperty tax increases, especially when Pennsylvaniacitizens cannot afford it. We need to ensure we followthe Constitution and maintain benefits for currentemployees and retirees, but enact changes to controlfuture costs.The benefit modifications in House Bill 2497 wouldapply to those who enter PSERS after July 1, 2011; SERSafter Jan. 1, 2011; and those lawmakers who take officeafter Dec. 1, 2010. Due to court rulings against makingchanges to benefits for current employees and retirees,the General Assembly is barred from making changesretroactively.I believe House Bill 2497 is a reasonable solutionto a problem that has the potential to severely impacttaxpayers throughout Pennsylvania.The bill is under consideration in the Senate.

Legislation Would RevampState’s Megan’s Law Website

As a resut o a critica report issue y Auitor GeneraJac Wagner regaring Pennsyvanias Megans Law wesite, Iave introduced legislation that would require the state policeto mae canges to te wesite as recommene y teauitor genera.Megans Law an its accompanying wesite are to assistarents in protecting their children from sex offenders.Witout a reiae puic resource, amiies are unae totae te necessary precautions to ensure te saety o teirchildren.Megans Law, wic was enacte in 1995, is name oregan Kana, wo was rutay rape an murere in1994. The perpetrator was a twice-convicted sex offenderwo move across te street rom er amiys ome in NewJersey. Her amiy a no nowege o is past oenses.nder the law, the state police are required to maintain auic registry o convicte sex oeners. As o June 16,tis registry ists more tan 10,000 oeners trougout teCommonwealth.Te auitor genera conucte a specia perormanceauit o te wesite in 2006, wic aute te wesite orfailing to provide the public with basic information such asp-to-date photographs and street addresses of registeredsex oeners. Te specia report issue on June 22 was afollow-up of the 2006 audit to see how the website improved;it received an overall grade of a C minus.I eieve tis report inicates a ac o attention to teimportance o tis wesite an te ene t it provies to teublic. My legislation would mandate that changes be madeto te Megans Law wesite in a timey asion.As igigte in te auitor generas specia report, myroposal would require:• A potograps to e consistent an aequateso sex oeners are recognize in ceary atehotos, including proﬁle views, by the public.• Te isting o a sexua oenses an e nitionsor wic te oener was convicte or teublic to identify non-compliant registrants andview teir pro es.• Variances in speing an punctuation o tename, aress an county in te wesites searcfeature.• A mapping too to permit te puic to see aoeners in a speci e area.• Procedures for the state police to identify andcorrect wesite ata entry errors.• An e-mai noti cation system to provie puicnotices when an offender moves into a designatedarea or canges an aress.Ciren are our most precious resource an we neeto take the necessary actions to ensure their safety andsecurity rom tose wo prey upon tem. I am opeu tattis i wi e swity move troug te egisative processto ensure these enhancements are incorporated into theegans Law wesite.On Aug. 17, te House Repuican Poicy Committeee a earing at Susqueanna Townsip Hig Scoo toeview Megan’s Lawan te reguationsgoverning te wesiteto ensure they arein ine wit wat isequire y current aw.uring the hearing,I testi e aout teimportance o mylegislation and how myroposa wou maesustantia canges toennsylvania’s websiteor te ene t oamiies.

n May, Rep. Sue Helm was leased to welcome Katie (left) Rice and Katelyn woyer (center) to the tate Capitol. Rice and woyer are members of Team Reﬂections, which s a synchronized ice skating team that was ecognized on the House oor for winning the silver edal at the United States ynchronized Skating hampionships.uring the House Republican Policy Committee earing at Susquehanna Township High School n Aug. 17, Rep. Sue Helm comments on the mportance of the Megan’s Law website.

SADD Student of the YearRecognized

In June,I welcomedStacey Geyer,a residentof WayneTownship and a2010 graduateof Halifax HighSchool, to theHouse chamberto present aHouse citationto her forbeing namedthe 2009-10PennsylvaniaStudents AgainstDestructiveDecisions(SADD) Studentof the Year.I want to congratulate Stacey for attaining thiswell-deserved recognition. She has proven to bea leader among her peers by encouraging them toparticipate in activities that are beneﬁcial to theirfuture and lives.Stacey is the daughter of Steve and Judi Geyer.She has been an active member of her high school’sStand Tall chapter of SADD since her freshmanyear and most recently served as its president. Inaddition, she was chosen to be a member of theNational Student Leadership Council for SADD duringthe 2009-10 school year.I am so proud of Stacey for standing up for whatshe believes in and assuming a leadership role tohelp others. On behalf of the residents of the 104thDistrict, I’d like to wish Stacey the best in her futureendeavors.

Deadline to Apply for PropertyTax/Rent Rebate Program Extended

The deadline to apply for the state’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate program for 2009 haseen extene to Dec. 31, 2010.Eigie participants can receive a reate o up to $650 ase on teir rent orroperty taxes paid in 2009. The program beneﬁts eligible Pennsylvanians who are 65years or oer, wiows an wiowers 50 years or oer, an tose 18 years or oer witisaiities.Eligibility income limits are set at the following levels, excluding 50 percent of SocialSecurity, Suppementa Security Income, an Rairoa Retirement Tier 1 ene ts: • $0 to $8,000, maximum $650 rebate (Homeowners and renters)• $8,001 to $15,000, maximum $500 rebate (Homeowners and renters)• $15,001 to $18,000, maximum $300 rebate (Homeowners only)• $18,001 to $35,000, maximum $250 rebate (Homeowners only)Te Property TaxRent Reate program is one o many initiatives supporte yte Pennsyvania Lottery, wic eicates its procees to support programs or oerennsylvanians. Since the program began in 1971, more than $4 billion has been paid toquai e appicants.Resients are remine to provie a te necessary income, property tax or rentainformation required to process claims quickly and accurately.Property TaxRent Reate caim orms are avaiae y contacting my Eizaetvieo ce at 362-1119, or my Susqueanna Townsip o ce at 651-0100. Forms can aso eownoae onine y visiting my wesite at

SueHelm.net.

vote on a Marceus Saetax y Oct. 1, an a orceeuction in paymentsto te Puic Scoomployees’ Retirementystem (PSERS). Thiseuce payment was toe part o reorms to tetates pension systemstat are emoie in

ouse Bill 2497

; however,lthough this bill passedte House on June 16, it isti awaiting action y teenate.

ouse Bi 2289

,which I voted against, is theill that provides for buildingn construction projects.Tis is te egisation tatrovies $10 miion orte Senator Aren Specteribrary in Philadelphia and$10 million for the formerongressman Jon Murtairary in Jonstown. Itequires repeating tat I iot vote or tis egisation.

ouse Bi 2290

, wicI voted against, increasesthe Commonwealth’s debtlimit by $600 million.imiar to otaining areit ine increase orur persona creit cars,this bill increases theommonwealth’s total debtlimit from $3.45 billion to$4.05 iion. O te $600miion in more orrowing,eary a, or $300million, has been directedto Philadelphia by theovernor.

Compromise Resulted in No-Tax- Increase Budget

continued from page 1...

Rep. Sue Helm presented a House citation to Stacey Geyer, a resident of Wayne Township and a 2010 graduate of Halifax High School,for being named the 2009-10 Pennsylvania Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Student of the Year.ep. Sue Helm attended pening day of Little League at nders Park in Penbrook.ep. Sue Helm joined Coach ob Herman and the Dauphin irecrackers during opening day f Middle Paxton Township’s aseball and softball seasons.