Revenues Up But Big Deficit Still Looms

Pennsylvania’s tax revenue continues to come in above estimates.
The Department of Revenue collected 73-million more dollars than it expected to in January, bringing year-to-date tax revenue 264 million dollars above projections.
House Appropriations Chairman Bill Adolph, a Republican, says the numbers are “great news,” but tempers his optimism.

"Even if it’s – I think it’s a little over 200 million right now over projections. That may be 400 million by June 30th. When you’re looking at a 4 billion dollar deficit, those projections are not going to fill that hole."

Adolph says things are slowly turning around.

"That’s four straight months, I believe, in increased revenues over projections. It’s much better than the previous 26 months, when we were below our projections. I think nationwide you’re seeing a very slow recovery."

This time last year, Pennsylvania was 374 million dollars behind estimates. Two years ago, the budget gap was 1.1 billion.
Corporate, sales and income taxes are all slightly above estimates, though table games revenue at casinos is 17 percent off the projected mark.

City Expands Park

Pittsburgh City Council has taken a preliminary vote to take control of some key forestland on the backside of Mt. Washington. The land will help to expand what has become known as Emerald View Park. It is a greenway that connects several smaller parks overlooking the West End and wrapping around to the back of Mt. Washington overlooking Rt. 51. The ordinance allows the city to accept the 29-acre parcel from the Allegheny Land Trust. Trust Executive Director Roy Kraynak says the trust will maintain a conservation easement on the property. “We hold all of the development rights in the conservation easement so a subsequent city council could not decide to develop the property in some shape or form, we also hold the timber rights,” says Kraynak.

Kraynak says this is a key parcel to preserve given it high scenic and environmental value and its proximity to downtown. It can be seen from Greentree Hill, Sawmill Run Blvd. and Stueben St., says Kraynak. He says there was a potential for the parcel to be developed and not only would the city lose the green hillside but he says such development could lead to landslides and harmful water runoff.

The trust will close on the parcel Thursday and the council will take a final vote next week. The deal is expected to run the Allegheny Land Trust about $212,000. About $20,000 of it came from individual small donors. The work was done in conjunction with the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation. It is the second chunk of forest in the greenway that the trust has handed over to the city. The first was 11 acres in size. Kraynak says there are more parcels to add to Emerald View Park and fundraising efforts will begin soon.

City Council Meets

A city-council post-Agenda meeting was held in Tuesday regarding Bill No.: 2010-1953 concerning ordinances surrounding rental units in the city of Pittsburgh. The meeting focused on pending legislation, the rental registration program and the effectiveness of the program. It was attended by council members, city employees in the Bureau of Building Inspection and representatives from the universities.

Discussed at the meeting were if dormitories should be held to the same zoning standards as rental units in the city.

Council member Teresa Smith called the meeting. She said its important to have these discussions before council votes on it sometime this year.

The legislation was introduced in October.

Casey: Health Care Repeal Doesn't Make Sense

A day after a Florida federal judge struck down the entire Affordable Care Act as "unconstitutional," the White House and Democratic lawmakers continue to warn about the negative impact of repealing the law.
U.S. District Judge C. Roger Vinson said through through the law, Congress exceeded its power to regulate interstate commerce. Vinson agreed with the plaintiffs that the law cannot force citizens to obtain health insurance or face a fine. He is the first judge to strike down the entire act while 2 other courts upheld the health care law. However, Vinson did not issue an injunction to prevent the law from proceeding pending appeal.
White House Deputy Senior Advisor Stephanie Cutter said the President has indicated that anything can be improved and he's willing to work to make the law better and care more affordable but not re-fight the battles of the last 2 years.
Pennsylvania's senior U.S. Bob Casey says he agrees with the President ...
"There are plenty of reasons to have discussions about changes we can make. But the idea of repeal and turning the clock back on families in Pennsylvania makes no sense, especially when we're trying to fully recover from a horrific recession."

Casey says repeal would mean insurance companies could again deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, and could deny or cap coverage unexpectedly.
Although the House voted to repeal the health care overhaul law, the Democrat-controlled Senate is highly unlikely to do so, and President Obama would veto it.
Casey says he's still reviewing the Florida judge's ruling....
"I just want to make sure that as we have a debate, it won't just be a debate that takes place in the courts with and among lawyers, that this is a debate across the country. I think it's important
that people understand the stakes."

Carnegie Shows Off Evolution

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History launches a 6-month look at the science behind evolution this weekend when it opens ‘Explore Evolution.’ It is a touring show that looks at several studies ranging from the evolution of whales millions of years ago to the co-evolution of a species of ants, fungus, bacteria, and mold. CMNH program specialist Laurie Giarratani says another part of the exhibition looks at the rapid changes seen in the HIV virus. “Usually we think of evolution as something that takes place over a long time… millions of years,” says Giarratani, “but with simpler organisms that have a smaller genome, a single mutation is going to have a larger effect.” While a virus is not a living organism it does have DNA and this study looks at the changes the HIV virus has gone through as it adapts to defend itself against a number of medical drugs. The research could be key in finding a vaccine for the virus that causes AIDS.

The Carnegie adds in an eighth study to the seven that travel as part of the exhibit. The museum’s curator of vertebrate paleontology, Chris Beard adds his own research title, “The micromonkey and anthropoid origins.” It looks at the genus Eosimias, that Beard helped to identify, and his subsequent research on other early anthropoids in China, Myanmar, and Libya. Beard will give a lecture Saturday at noon as part of the opening day events.

Giarratani says, “Our Goal here is to help people understand the science behind evolution… and not commenting on religion at all.” We hope people can come to the museum and can connect the science here to their lives.” Giarratani says it is up to the visitors to engage those ideas in whatever way makes sense to them.

The exhibit runs through July 24th.

Nonprofit Workers Paid More Despite Recession

A survey conducted by Robert Morris University and the United Way of Allegheny County reveals employees of local nonprofits recently received the smallest two-year increase in salaries since the survey began in 2002.

However, analysts say the 2008-2010 average salary increase of 2.5% is positive because the economic recession could have kept wages from increasing at all.

Executive Director Peggy Outon of Robert Morris' Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management says the study also shows more women than men in local nonprofit leadership roles. But Outon says these women are getting paid almost 25% less than their male counterparts, who average more than $118,000 per year.

"We are going to be doing three years of detailed research on the lives of women in nonprofits, to try to see that they can become more adept at asking for raises, become more adept at showing their leadership and demonstrating the value of their leadership," says Outon.

The 25 % gender wage gap is slimmer than in the past, though; in 2002, women in local nonprofits earned just 62% of men's wages. However, Outon says more progress must be made: the national rate for women is 80%.

Outon does not anticipate the raise rate increasing over the next couple of years, and neither does United Way President Bob Nelkin.

"I think the greatest challenges are ahead," Nelkin says. "The word out of Harrisburg, although early in the administration, is fiscal discipline and less spending on human services and the safety net."

UPMC Employees Risk Fines

UPMC Presbyterian Hospital administration is threatening to fine its employees $1,000 and send them home if they fail to comply with infection-control guidelines such as washing their hands. The Oakland hospital faced an outbreak of acinetobacer, a bacteria that is immune to anti-bacterial.

Normally, acinetobacer will effect two or fewer patients each month, but this January there were five cases of the infection. Acinetobacer is often seen as the bacteria infecting the wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but now it is being seen in a local hospital.

In 2006, there was an outbreak of acinetobacer at Presby which cause employee monitoring as they tend to patients. If a doctor or a nurse was seen not properly cleansing themselves or the equipment, the monitor would instruct the employee how to do so according to hygiene guidelines.

In addition, residents could face a fine of $250 if they fail to do the same.

This Musical City: AppalAsia

Mimi Jong plays the erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument. Jeff Berman and Sue Powers are steeped in the traditional music of Appalachia. In Pittsburgh they found common ground for two very different musical traditions and formed the group AppalAsia.
They visited the WDUQ studios recently to play some of their music and tell the story of how they got together. Listen to that story here.

Watch the first part of a video of AppalAsia at the WDUQ studios posted by Victor Beltran.
Watch the second part here.

Some PA Drill Sites Release Gas Into Air, Not Dangerous Levels

A Department of Environmental Protection survey finds elevated gas levels at northeastern Pennsylvania drilling sites but are not at a point where they’d be a health concern.
The study monitored air at four natural gas drilling sites in Susquehanna County from August to October.
DEP Community Relations Coordinator Mark Carmon says the study found elevated levels of methane, propane, butane and other gasses in the air, but nothing surpassing the warning levels for “air-related health issues.”

"We really didn’t see anything in a short-term way that would be a health concern. But again, I think the best quote here is, the report notes the sampling effort was not meant to address potential cumulative impacts, which would be a more long-term situation."

Carmon says the department isn’t drawing any long-term conclusions from the study.

"The report takes some pains to note it is not a long-term, cumulative study. It really is a short-term snapshot of air quality in locations where there is Marcellus activity."

The report comes a few months after a similar survey of drilling sites in southwestern Pennsylvania, which also found higher-than-usual amounts of certain gasses, but nothing triggering alarm bells. Carmon says a third study is wrapping up in north-central Pennsylvania, and that further studies of long-term drilling impacts will begin soon.

House Reform Debate Shows Progress

The Pennsylvania State House is moving on, after a messy dispute over voting rules. On Monday, the House approved five reform bills, setting the measures up for final passage next week. The vast majority of the afternoon’s debate was civil and low-key – a far cry from the screaming and hyperbole that dominated Wednesday’s Rules Committee meeting. Republican leaders did not call a vote on a resolution restricting members’ ability to amend measures on the floor, and stripping a Democrat from each House committee. When asked whether Republicans will press forward with the rules change, Majority Leader Mike Turzai of McCandless was eager to shift the topic to the bills the House approved on second consideration. “Look, the package that is going to get voted on next Monday – and we’re back on course – is probably the most substantive reform package that has been put together as a group since the Thornburgh Administration,” he said. The measures increase penalties for lobbyists who break rules, expand “Right to Know” governing state contracts with private companies, and bar lawmakers from operating non-profit organizations that receive tax dollars, among other changes. A Democratic spokesman says he’s worried Republicans will keep the rules change on the table as a “potential weapon” to use against the minority party in the future, if Democrats try to slow down the legislative process.

Turzai kept shifting the topic back to the reform bills, each time reporters asked whether the rules changes – House Resolution 6 – had been tabled for good. Several times during the afternoon’s debate, Allegheny County Democrats offered amendments expanding the measures to include the domestic partners of the lobbyists or state employees impacted by the changes. Every time, Republicans voted down the proposals as not germane to the bill at hand. State Rep. Dan Frankel of Lawrenceville said the House was “burying its head in the sand.” “We live in a world where people live together in domestic partnerships,” he said. “Long-term, interdependent, financially interdependent, emotionally interdependent relationships. 270,000 Pennsylvanians live this way.” After the debate, Turzai said he’d be happy to take a look at the potential loopholes, but in separate bills. “if [Democrats] feel that it’s applicable, then you can introduce a bill and make their case,” he said, arguing language like that needed to be vetted in committee, and not offered on the floor at the last minute.