Corbett signs Ross senior care respite bill

State Rep. Chris Ross (R-158), left, and State Rep. Tim Hennessey (R-26) with Gov. Tom Corbett following the governor’s signing of a bill to license facilities for senior citizen respite care. Ross sponsored the bill and Hennessey is the chair of the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee. HARRISBURG — At a Capitol bill signing ceremony last week, Gov. Tom Corbett signed legislation...

Pileggi out as Senate Majority Leader

GOP Senate votes him out in favor of Corman By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Sen. Dominic Pileggi Chester County will no longer have representation in the leadership of either party’s leadership in the state legislature, after a shakeup Wednesday deposed Sen. Dominic Pileggi from his post as Majority Leader of the state Senate. Pileggi (R-9), who represents a large portion of the eastern part...

Walker withdraws from 158th race: Ross to replace?

Cuyler Walker Updated 7:35 a.m. 9/23: Adds comment from adds comments from Chester County Democrats By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times EAST MARLBOROUGH — Cuyler Walker suddenly announced his withdrawal from the race for the 158th State Representative race, Monday afternoon — and it could lead to a familiar face appearing on the November ballot, nine-term State Representative Chris Ross. Walker,...

Op/Ed: Rendell (and Wolf) shouldn’t escape pension blame

By Kelly Lewis Kelly Lewis I have read about 5% of the noise surrounding the upcoming Governor’s race in Pennsylvania. As a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, I’m always amazed at what issues become amplified, minimized, and often buried. Less than 1% of the voters will read this little note, but as a son of teachers, and a friend to many current and retired...

Poll numbers don’t always tell the whole story

Also: is it time to fire legislators too busy ‘on vacation’ to do their jobs? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Ah, the sweet smell of late summer. Fruits ripening, corn growing, backyard grills fired up, maybe even a whiff of chlorine from the pool all in the air. Also floating in the air: polling data, much of which might leave folks scratching their heads a bit. You may have seen...

Letter: GOP protests costing tax dollars

To The Editor, As we move into this election season, it’s interesting to me to see what fear and panic produces as Gov. Tom Corbett, sinks to 20% below his opponent, Tom Wolf in the polls. Could it be that the polls are right?  Could it be that the Republican legislators from Chester County, all of whom supported Governor Corbett’s failed policies, are worried about losing as well? Traditionally,...

Op/Ed: Time to deliver justice

By Susan Rzucidlo, Candidate, State Representative, 158th District Susan Rzucidlo I am disappointed that the Republican House leadership in Harrisburg continues to fail to help victims of abuse. HB 832 and HB 878 as well as SB 1392, all bills focused on helping victims of past abuse find justice; all were left to die in committee. Recently, state Sen. Anthony Williams brought forward SB 46, a bill...

Letter: GOP pension claims ring hollow

To The Editor, The claim made in the recent OP/ED that Southeast Pennsylvania’s GOP backed Corbett’s pension revamp rings hollow.  What the GOP fears is that Corbett is likely to be replaced by Tom Wolfe in the next election and some of them will go down with Corbett. Frankly, it will serve them right.  If the GOP had truly supported revising the pension system for the teachers union...

Bad state budget could wipe out Corbett and local legislators

If House plan is the final budget, GOP could face electoral doom in November By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times It looks like Gov. Tom Corbett could be winning his budget battle, but could be losing the war — and maybe a handful of state legislative seats in Chester County. We may have a better sense how bad the mess will be once a state budget is passed, maybe even by Monday. The House of Representatives...

Op/Ed: Time to fix Special Ed. funding

It’s time for a funding system based on actual needs By Lisa Lightner, Special to The Times Lisa Lightner, as seen with her special needs son at The White House, recently. The time is now to reform Pennsylvania’s special education funding Based on broad, bi-partisan support, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has introduced companion special education funding reform bills: HB 2138 and...