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DISTRICT OFFICE:
orthwest Centre, Suite 302299 Route 309ew Tripoli, PA 18066
hone: (610) 760-7082
HARRISBURG OFFICE:
O Box 202187arrisburg, PA 17120-2187hone: (717) 787-3017
REP. GARY DAY
187
TH
Legislative District
PRSRT STD..,.
9-11 Memorial Legislation
RepGar yDay.com
Fall 2010
Rep. Day, a former coach, had the pleasureof throwing out the first pitch for the Park-land Little League All-Star games. Thanks toall the coaches, kids and parents for a great event!
Inside This Newsletter:
Jobs
Property Taxes
Government Reform
My chief responsibility is to serve the constituents I represent in the 187th Legis-atve Dstrct as est as posse. As your representatve, I contnue to ocus on te pressing issues of our times -- jobs, government reform and property taxes. Our col-ectve strct voce must e ear n Harrsurg y ocusng on tese an oter ssuesthat the people have indicated are important.I have been operating an aggressive effort to reach to as many people in our districtas possible. Stretching from Laury’s Station near the Lehigh River through Walnut-town just southwest of Fleetwood, our district covers a large geographic area. I haveempoye varous ways to communcate wt you. Some tratona communcatontools are the telephone and postcards, as well as visiting neighborhoods, e-mail, myweste an Faceoo, wc are a more economca ways. You can partcpate y providing your e-mail address, visiting my website or joining us on Facebook.his newsletter will update you on efforts I have undertaken that reflect those pri-orities. It contains information on job creation policies, helping employers put people back to work, the school property tax issue, legislative action to help prevent huge property tax increases as a result of looming spikes in the two public pension systems,and efforts to reform the way government operates.I you ave any questons regarng te normaton n ts newsetter, pease con-tact me at
gday@pahousegop.com
or at (610) 760-7082.
Dear friends and neighbors,
With the ninth anniversary of the Sept.11, 2001, attacks soon upon us, and the10th anniversary approaching next fall, Iam working on an idea that will encour-age schools across the Commonwealth tocommemorate the tragic and heroic eventsof Sept. 11, 2001.he attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon resulted in a great loss of ife, but a fourth plane was hijacked thatday, and its brave passengers fought for control of that plane over the airspace of our Commonwealth.Some of the most notable and heroicactions occurred in Pennsylvania that day.I believe the Legislature should honor those Americans who fought back on Sept.11, 2001, and died in Pennsylvania.I am authoring legislation requiringevery school building in the Common-wealth to display a mileage marker inits lobby indicating how many miles the building is from Shanksville, SomersetCounty.It is my hope that inquisitive childrenand adults will see this marker and ask,“What does this mean?”PennDOT will be responsible to se-cure signs that resemble traditional road-way mileage markers for the schoolsand will also be required to post mileagemarkers in each of the 11 engineeringdistricts across the state.My goal is to remind and educate stu-dents about the events that occurred inPennsylvania, and keep their sacrificeson the front of the minds of future gen-erations and travelers throughout Penn-sylvania.I have included language in the billthat will authorize a 9-11 memorial spe-cial license plate that will cost $20 morethan regular plate, but will help pay for the cost of this program.I hope to pass this bill as soon as pos-sible, so that Pennsylvania will be ableto implement this program of honor, long before the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11,2001.
Job Creation
As our national economy tries hardto recover, the effects of the economicdownturn are still impacting the residentsof the Allentown-Reading corridor.n June, the jobless rate for BerksCounty was recorded at 9.8 percent andor Lehigh County at 10 percent, above both the state and national averages of 9.2 percent and 9.6 percent respectively.Something must be done, and it must be done now if hard-working families areto return to the workforce.esides the dispute of whether weshould encourage private or public sector jobs, it’s apparent to me that the leader-ship and direction of the House of Repre-sentatives, whether Republican or Dem-ocrat, should also adopt policies whichstabilize expectations for employers, sothey may cope with the challenges of thiseconomy.he House Republican Policy Com-mittee explores new ideas which mayead to changes in policies to create a positive jobs climate.One of our ideas is to reduce the num- ber of permanent job layoffs by creatinga flexible Shared Work Program that al-ows employers to reduce hours and wag-
State Policies Must Encourage Employers to Hire
es for a specific unit of employees whileallowing those workers to collect a prorata portion of unemployment compensa-tion benefits.In addition, a Keystone Works Pro-gram would remove barriers to employ-ment by matching unemployed personsand welfare recipients with businessesseeking to hire on a conditional basis,with no cost to employers unless the em- ployer chooses to hire the worker on a permanent basis.We also are proposing an unemploy-ment training and education option whichwould allow unemployment recipients toenter into short-term career training or re-training while still collecting unem- ployment benefits. This will allow for aneasier transition for someone wishing tochange careers or gain necessary skillsfor an emerging job market.It also is important to reauthorizeand restructure the employment incen-tive payments program, which was suc-cessful at encouraging employers to hireindividuals who are currently receiving public assistance in the form of welfare benefits. This program provides a uniqueopportunity for unemployed individuals
Job Growth inEmerging Industries
According to some reports, the Mar-cellus Shale industry could create asmany as 100,000 jobs in Pennsylvaniaand generate 1 billion in taxes a year under current tax laws. In addition, youwill continue to hear about the need for a Marcellus Shale gas extraction tax tofill a looming multi-billion structuraldeficit next year or fund other spending projects.Although legislation for the tax pro- posal hasn’t been drafted and no one yetknows what the final proposal will look like, I suspect that some may use the tax to justify high government spending or makefalse promises, regardless of the positivelong-term impact of the industry.I want a smart policy for natural gasextraction, not one which may curtail jobopportunities and not fulfill the promises
Government Facilitates JobsBy Providing Stability
want to develop a new mindset in Harrisburg when it comes to creating moreovernment. There may indeed be a need for new government jobs; however, we mustreview our processes and procedures to streamline them and conserve valuable re-sources.he Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) is a prime example of overnment’s answer to a problem. It illustrates how many believe the solution is tothrow money at the problem instead of developing an overall policy of stability and predictability. This would allow job creators to plan and navigate this tough economicclimate.he law, which I opposed, added 600 million in borrowing to increase our debtceiling to more than $4.05 billion. That spending includes $10 million for yet-to-be-constructed libraries for Sen. Arlen Specter and the late Congressman John Murtha.Such projects are better funded by private contributions, not public, taxpayer funds.At the very minimum, these funds should be tied to job-creating endeavors, whichwasn’t a requirement of the $600 million spending authorization.to enter into self-employment throughentrepreneurial training and counselingwhile continuing to receive unemploy-ment compensation.Finally, we are proposing the cre-ation of a youth employment incentivetax credit to encourage employers to hireworkers in their teens. This tax credit willallow employers to hire more inexperi-enced workers at a reduced cost.This legislation is part of the PolicyCommittee’s Solutions for Pennsylvania package to empower individuals to findemployment and return to work.We all know that a good job markethas multiple advantages. In addition tothe feeling of self-worth and a paycheck,the Commonwealth’s citizens benefitthrough a stronger tax base and less pub-lic funds being directed to public assis-tance programs. I hope these proposalswill help employers to deal with the de-cision to lay off, keep or create jobs inthe future.
Customer Service Rating Helps Us Serve You
I want to make sure my office, indeed all of government, is responsive to the people and taxpayers it serves. So, starting withmy office, I have implemented a simple accountability customer service rating system I used when I was in the private sector.This customer service metric will give us feedback as to how well we are serving you and your neighbors.I am pleased to report that my office, for the previous sixth months, has had a customer service rating of 94.48 percent. Wehave assisted more than 3,633 people from our district. The success of our operation’s efficiency and courteousness is a directresult of the hard work of my staff in the district and Harrisburg offices. If you have any state-related issues, please contact usand give us the opportunity to assist you.If you have contacted my office with a question or problem involving state government, please take the time to fill out a brief survey about the job myself and my staff are doing to fulfill your needs.
House Passes State Pension System Reforms
n an effort to ease ananticipated spike in pen-sion costs for state employ-ees and teachers, the Houserecently passed House Bill2497, which would makechanges to the methodology by which employer contri- bution rates are calculated.his bill is currently beforethe Senate for considerationduring the fall session.voted in favor of it,along with 191 other mem- bers of the House because Ielt it is a step in the rightdirection to help our schooldistricts avoid large tax in-creases. Sometimes, themore thorough solution toa problem is politically complicated anddoes not have broad-based support.Many who have called for more ex-tensive reforms have argued we shouldmove from the current defined benefit plan, where the employer – both thestate and school district – each put a setamount into the retirement system. Inturn, state employees and public schoolemployees put a portion of their salary(before taxes) into the system with thoseunds pooled and invested by the pen-sion plan. These are highly dependent onstock market fluctuations, and with re-cent market downturns, we have seen thevalue of those investments drop, hamper-ng the ability of these funds to meet re-tirement payouts which were promised toemployees.etirement plans frequently used to-day in the private sector are known asdefined contribution plans. These include401(k) or 403(b) plans in which the em- ployee elects to defer a portion of his or her salary into a plan and each participantgenerally directs the investment, depend-ing on the amount of risk he or she wish-es to take.However, because of collective bar-gaining agreements (contracts) with stateand public school employees, a new planwould have to be agreed upon by unionnegotiators. The court has ruled that thischange could only be for new employ-ees. The legislation addresses the comingspike in employer contribution rates bycapping the rate of increase to help lessenexpenditures by school districts and thestate. In addition, the bill includes sev-eral reforms impacting new hires into the pension systems.Financially, it should not be the onlysolution. The existing defined benefit pension plans should be able to work, if managed properly. Proper management includes ap- propriate funding of the sys-tem and an appropriate levelof benefits drawing from thesystem. Too little fundingand too many benefits with-out regard for the impact isthe type of overall manage-ment which has caused thisfunding crisis.If something is not doneto address this looming cri-sis, Pennsylvania familiescould be facing a massivetax increase. While HouseBill 2497 will not solve allof the problems facing our state pension systems, Isupported it because it is animportant first step toward keeping thesystems healthy without placing a greater burden on taxpayers.As we move forward, I will be callingfor reform to this system to incorporatedefined contribution plans for new em- ployees into the mix so that government, both at the state and school district levels,will run more like a business, which willultimately save taxpayers money.
School Property TaxElimination Advocate
The departure of Rep. Sam Rohrer from the Legislature at the end of thisyear creates a void in one of the mostvocal advocates for the elimination of school property taxes. I intend to con-tinue to advocate for Sam’s plan and pledge to seek new ways to reduce thisoverwhelming burden on Pennsylvania’s property owners.
Rep. Gary Day speaks at a joint House and Senate Policy Committeehearing in Breinigsville on Pennsylvania’s pension systems, as other legislators look on.
Property Taxes
School Visits
Students from Kutztown Elementaryvisited the Capitol on May 25.Members of the Parkland High School AcademicTeam tied for second place in the annual Pennsylvania Academic Competition held at the Capitol in April.
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