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| Legislative Report |
| The latest news from the State Capitol |
Ice Cream Social Town Hall One Week Away
Our next Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 18. Beginning at 6 p.m., this informative Ice Cream Social will be held at Franklin Community Park, Pavilion 1, 115 Warchol Road, Vanderbilt, PA 15486.
Enjoy some refreshing ice cream and learn more about the services available to you through our Belle Vernon district office. Come out and discuss what’s going on at the local level and throughout our state, share ideas, ask questions and leave with answers!
Please RSVP by calling our district office at (724) 929-2660 by Monday, July 15, to let us know if you will be attending.
We hope to see you there! Tell your friends and neighbors!
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Fiscal Responsibility Leads to Healthy Deposit in State’s Rainy Day Fund
A strong economy, combined with House Republican efforts to stand up for taxpayers and against a series of tax hike proposals from Gov. Tom Wolf over the last four years, has resulted in a healthy investment of nearly $317 million in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
The fund essentially serves as the Commonwealth’s savings account, available to help weather the next economic downturn without further burdening hard-working taxpayers.
Last year marked the first deposit in the Rainy Day Fund in more than a decade. It totaled $22 million.
This year, lawmakers agreed during budget negotiations to deposit the full amount of the General Fund balance at the close of the 2018-19 fiscal year into the fund.
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Wolf Borrowing $90 Million to Fund Voting Machine Replacement without Legislative Authorization
After vetoing a key election reform bill that would have also provided $90 million in funding to help counties replace their voting machines, the governor announced this week he would simply go around the Legislature and supply the funding unilaterally.
Members in both the House and Senate are questioning the governor’s authority to borrow $90 million without legislative authorization.
Wolf’s latest example of executive overreach is very similar to his unconstitutional $200 million PA Farm Show Complex borrowing/leasing scheme which was also completed without legislative approval.
The need for the $90 million in funding is specifically due to the governor’s original decision to decertify every type of voting machine currently in use in the Commonwealth. It is estimated to cost $150 million to replace machines in all 67 counties, a significant burden on taxpayers across the state.
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Calling on the FCC to Protect Your Phone from Spoofers
Calls from telemarketers have long been an issue, but the situation becomes dangerous when scammers “spoof” calls. That’s when a call shows a different name or phone number than is actually associated with the caller. All too often it can result in recipients being tricked into sharing their personal information and scammed out of their hard-earned money.
Spoofing needs to be swiftly and aggressively addressed. Despite being illegal, these unwanted robocalls that appear to originate from local, often legitimate, numbers in order to deceive consumers are on the rise.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives unanimously supported a resolution urging Congress to grant additional authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stop unwanted robocalls and spoofing, as well as to educate the public on how to report illegal calls. Spam calls are the most frequent complaint received by the FCC, and it’s time to do something about it.
While we implore the FCC to stop the harassment of Pennsylvanians through their own devices, residents can take action to limit another form of harassment – unwanted calls from telemarketers.
There are two Do Not Call Lists available: The National Do Not Call List and the Pennsylvania Do Not Call List. Register your cell phone and landline numbers with the state list by calling 888-777-3406 and the national list by calling 888-382-1222. Both phone numbers are toll free.
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| Office Locations |
| Belle Vernon, 10 Main St. Belle Vernon, Pa 15012 (724) 929-2660 / California, 130 Woodland Court, Brownsville, Pa 15417 (724) 938-5355 |
| B-15 Main Capitol, PO Box 202049, Harrisburg PA 17120-2049 | (717) 783-8655 / 3-8655 |
| Email Address: BCook@pahousegop.com |
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