rep barrar summer newsletter

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Summer/Fall 2011

D ear Neighbor:

PRSRT STD

U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHARRISBURG, PA

PERMIT NO. 432

STATE REPRESE NTATIVE

steve barrar

Serving the 160th Legislative District

The rst quarter of the 2011-12 legislative session was a whirlwindof activity. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives maintainedan aggressive legislative agenda, passing 150 bills in six months. Todate, Gov. Tom Corbett has signed 75 new laws this year. With thefall session approaching, I want to take this opportunity to review our

legislative accomplishments and look ahead to what we have plannedthrough the end of the year.One of the proudest legislative accomplishments was the enact-

ment of four important welfare reforms, which you can read moreabout on page 4.

Other important initiatives that have been signed into law include:• The Castle Doctrine.• The Fair Share Act, which is a pro-job measure that will make

Pennsylvania a more business-friendly state.• A measure to allow senior citizens to remain eligible for the PACE

and PACENET programs even if slight increases in Social Securitybenets cause income to exceed allowable limits.

• Mandate relief for school districts.

• Unemployment compensation reform.• The creation of a website that will allow citizens to view governmentexpenditures and contract awards.When we return to session this fall, I expect the House to consider

a proposal to privatize Pennsylvania’s liquor stores and examineschool choice legislation.

I am hopeful the Senate will review several laws passed only inthe House this spring. These include a measure that would requirethe presentation of photo identication before voting and my HouseBill 728, which would improve safety at self-service gasoline stations.

As you read this newsletter, if you have any questions or if you needhelp with any state-related matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Finally, if you have not connected with me on Facebook, I encourage

you to join the conversation at Facebook.com/RepBarrar . Along withthe lively legislative discussions on my page, I provide frequent updatesabout the road construction project on Naaman’s Creek Road.

Sincerely,

Steve Barrar State Representative, 160th District

Health and Safety Fair

Offers Fun for the Whole Family

This fall, I am bringing my popular Health and Safety Fair to thesouthern area of the 160th District.

Participants can take advantage of health screenings andgather health information. The Pennsylvania National Guard willbring Humvees to the event for the public to experience. Freeface painting, along with Jungle John and his reptiles, will delightchildren. Water ice and free refreshments will help you stay cool

and energized.For more information, contact my ofce at (610) 485-7606.

I hope to see you at the Health and Safety Fair!

Let’s talk about the news at Facebook.com/RepBarrar

On May 16, I hosted a great group of residents from the Maris GroveSenior Living Community for a tour of the State Capitol. If you would l iketo set up a tour for your group, contact my ofce.

Saturday, Sept. 2410 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Endo Pharmaceutical100 Endo Blvd. in Chadds Ford Township

(in Painters Crossing)



w w

House Veterans Affairs and Emergency

Preparedness Committee Happenings

I am very pleased with the work accomplished by the House

Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, of which I am the majority chairman. Before the Legislature was upand running last winter, I met with committee staff and we crafteda comprehensive legislative plan of action for the two-year session.

Honor Guard Burial Details

at Washington Crossing

National Cemetery Now Law

I was pleased to witness Gov. Tom Corbett’s ceremonial signing of legislationto provide for Honor Guard burial details at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Bucks County.

In July, Gov. Tom Corbett signed legislation to allow the Penn-sylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to arrange for Honor Guard burial details at the Washington Crossing NationalCemetery in Bucks County.

Honor Guard burial details include proper ag folding and presen-tation to the family and the playing of taps. Similar services are of-fered at Fort Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Lebanon County.

The men and women who will be entombed in WashingtonCrossing National Cemetery have served their country honorablyin the U.S. military and have earned the right to a tting militaryfuneral. Honor Guard burial details are an important display of respect for the fallen, and offer a poignant tribute for mourners.

As the majority chairman of the House Veterans Affairs andEmergency Preparedness Committee, I was happy to help Rep.Scott Petri’s (R-Bucks) proposal through the legislative process.

In June, the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Prepared-

ness Committee unanimously approved House Bill 1344, whichwould require health insurance companies to directly reimburseambulance organizations that respond to 9-1-1 emergency calls.

The effort to see this proposal signed into law has spanned almosta decade, despite being listed by the Ambulance Association of Penn-sylvania as a top priority. Ambulance organizations lose hundreds of thousands of dollars annually when patients refuse to turn over insur-ance payments for services provided by ambulance organizations.

Our current system forces our time- and money-strapped am-bulance companies to chase down payments sent directly to thepatient, often to no avail. This legislation will fairly compensateambulance companies for the services they are mandated by law toprovide. The insurance companies are already cutting these checks,

so it is just a matter of changing the recipient listed on the payee line.With an amendment added in committee, the bill would establish

an “assignment of benets” form, which an ambulance service maychoose to have the patient sign in order for the insurance paymentto be sent directly to the ambulance service. If this assignment of benet process is used, the ambulance service cannot “balancebill” the patient. This means if the expenses for transporting apatient exceed the insurance company’s set rate for the service,the ambulance organization could not seek the difference fromthe patient or the insured person.

This legislation would not require insurance companies to pay for the uninsured. It would compel them to pay for the services their subscribers use. It is not fair to allow the recipient of a lifesaving ser-

vice to reap a nancial reward rightfully due to our rst responders.House Bill 1344 is awaiting the consideration of the House

Rules Committee.

Committee Approves

Legislation to Aid Ambulance

Organizations

Cancer Presumption for

Firefighters Now Law

In a legislative victory for Pennsylvania’s reghters, Gov. TomCorbett, in July, signed House Bill 797 into law as Act 46 of 2011.The new law designates cancer as an occupational disease for professional and volunteer reghters, allowing them to collectworkers’ compensation benets if diagnosed with cancer after adocumented exposure to carcinogens during an incident response.

The measure received one negative vote in the House andunanimous support in the Senate.

It was a long journey to nally see the legislation signed into law.You may remember that former Gov. Ed Rendell vetoed a similar proposal last session.

Under the new law, Pennsylvania’s reghters nally have theworkers’ compensation protection they deserve.

To celebrate Pennsylvania National Guard Day, I welcomed Pennsylvania Adjutant General Wesley Craig to the State Capitol. Pictured with me are Craig and veteran Myer Kurgan from the Delaware Valley State Veterans’ Home.

It was a pleasure to host members of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS)community at the Capitol in May for EMS Week. Our communities depend onthe lifesaving assistance provided by local EMS organizations.

During the rst quarter of the session, we accomplished many of our

goals, and I am looking forward to a very busy fall. It has been an honor to serve the veterans and rst responders of this Commonwealth,and I always welcome any suggestions you might have regardinglegislation to improve the lives of our hometown and national heroes.



w . S t e v e B a r r a r . c o m

In May, the committee examined the capabilities of Pennsylvania’snuclear power plants and emergency service providers to respond toa disaster emergency, whether natural or man-made. The meetingwas prompted by the ongoing nuclear disaster at the FukushimaDaiichi power plant in Japan.

During the meeting, the committee heard testimony from nuclear power plant operators, industry professionals, state regulators andrst responders.

The conclusion I made from the meeting is that Pennsylvania’snuclear facilities are very well equipped to manage an emergency,including a possible off-site power outage. Pennsylvania residentsshould feel condent in the safety of these facilities, the oversight

provided by the federal government and the emergency responsecapabilities of our rst responders.

I was extremely impressed by the industry’s training, cooperationand preparedness. The facilities frequently run drills to practice for all types of scenarios, and they are constantly cooperating withemergency responders in the community. The committee eventoured the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant this summer to reviewwhat we learned during the meeting.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is also continuingits scrutiny of the disaster in Japan and has recommended severalchanges to improve safety at nuclear facilities in the United States.You can review the NRC’s recommendations at NRC.gov .

Pennsylvania’s Nuclear Safety

and Preparedness Examined

by Committee

House Acts to

Protect Identities

of 9-1-1 CallersPennsylvania’s 9-1-1 system is a beacon of protection for

citizens facing an emergency. Individuals use the system torequest assistance in a health crisis, to convey informationabout matters of public safety and to report crimes in progress.

A court decision to allow public access to the locationfrom where 9-1-1 calls are made puts victims and innocentbystanders in danger by potentially compromising their iden-tities, as many 9-1-1 calls are made from a private residence.

The decision originated when a Right-to-Know requestby the York Daily Record/Sunday News for time-responselogs did not include geographic information identifying the

location of the 9-1-1 caller. The newspaper appealed to theOfce of Open Records, which decided in favor of the news-paper. York County appealed the ruling in court, but lost.

In an effort to safeguard the identities of 9-1-1 callers,the House, in June, unanimously approved legislation thatwould exempt from the state’s Right-to-Know Law recordscontaining identifying information about an individual whocalled a 9-1-1 center, unless a court determines public inter-est in disclosure outweighs the interest in nondisclosure.

I wholeheartedly support transparency in state government,but I also believe 9-1-1 callers have a reasonable expectationof privacy. To reveal the identity of a caller could endanger himor her and increase the risk of retaliation, domestic violence

or worse. There are certain details newspaper reporters justshould not have the right to access and make public.

House Bill 1174 has the support of county 9-1-1 center dispatchers, victims’ rights groups, and law enforcementorganizations including the Keystone Chapter of the NationalEmergency Number Association, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communications OfcialsInternational, the PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence,the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania, and the CountyCommissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

The legislation is now before the Senate Veterans Affairsand Emergency Preparedness Committee.

One of the major priorities of the fall legislative session will beto renew the Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer AmbulanceService Grant program before it expires on Dec. 31. To that end,I have authored House Bill 955, which would extend the grantprogram through 2017.

The grant program benets volunteer re, ambulance and rescueorganizations. Projects eligible for grant funding include construc-tion or renovation of facilities, equipment purchase or repair, debtreduction and training.

Due to the success of the program and the increasing number of volunteer organizations competing for the limited amount of funds,

grant awards to each participating organization have diminishedover the years.Fire companies are eligible for up to $15,000 in funding, but

because the funding is distributed on a pro-rata basis, most recompanies receive less than $12,000. When you consider the costof the average pumper engine is more than a half-million dollars or that turn-out gear for one volunteer costs more than $2,500, it isobvious that the state grants don’t go very far, although they aremuch appreciated by the volunteer organizations.

To further assist our community volunteers, I have introducedHouse Bill 954, which would increase the total grant funding from $25million to $40 million. Of this total, volunteer re companies would beeligible for $35 million in grant funds, and ambulance organizations

would share a total of $5 million in grant funds.The money to fund the grant program does not come out of theGeneral Fund but is distributed from the State Gaming Fund.

House Bill 955 is awaiting the consideration of the House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee and House Bill954 is before the House Appropriations Committee.

Fall Session Priorities

This spring, I coordinated an effort to collect 450 pre-paid calling cards donated from AT&T to send to troops serving overseas. The phone cards were distributed along with letters from local Boy Scout troops and ROTC members who wroteencouraging messages to the soldiers.



SteveBarrar.com Facebook.com/RepBarrar

Representative Steve Barrar DISTRICT OFFICE: Willowbrook Shopping Center / 3358 Chichester Avenue, Suite 13 / Upper Chichester, PA 19061 / (610) 485-7606/ Fax: (610) 485-8277

HARRISBURG OFFICE: Room 18 East Wing / PO Box 202160 / Harrisburg, PA 17120-2160 / (717) 783-3038 / Fax: (717) 787-7604

PENNSYLVANIA’S BUDGET: A PLAN FOR NOW AND FOR THE FUTURE

On June 30, Gov. Tom Corbett signed a new budget into law for the 2011-12 scal year. I want to take this opportunity to provideyou with facts about this budget and to dispel some of the mythssurrounding our Commonwealth’s new spending plan. Following

is a breakdown of what was included or eliminated from this bud-get and how it will impact our daily lives.

Spending: Pennsylvania lawmakers held overall GeneralFund spending to $27.15 billion in this budget, which representsa $1 billion reduction from last year. We believe spending grewat an unsustainable rate under the previous administration, sothe 2011-12 budget is our attempt to rightsize state government.

Taxes: The new budget will not rely on any new or increasedstate taxes. Raising taxes was never an option during this pro-cess because taxes stie job creation, which we desperatelyneed to foster economic recovery.

Loss of Stimulus Funds: During the height of the eco-nomic downturn, the federal government gave billions of dollars

in aid to states. Many legislators wanted this money to be usedonly for one-time expenditures or for infrastructure improvements.Former Gov. Ed Rendell did allocate some of the funding in thismanner, but he also poured billions of dollars into public education.

Education: We were successful in increasing the governor’srequest for education funding; however, Pennsylvania did nothave the resources to compensate for the loss of $1.1 billion infederal aid for education. During the last budget cycle, lawmakerscautioned school districts not to become reliant on federal moneyand urged them to allocate this extra funding to one-time expen-

ditures. In addition to restoring some public education money, wealso were able to increase funding for higher education above thegovernor’s initial proposal.

Property Taxes: In an effort to protect property taxpayers,Special Session Act 1 of 2006 was amended as part of the budgetagreement. The new provision will limit the number of exceptionsby which school districts can increase property taxes above thestate-set inationary index without seeking voter approval. Wherepreviously 10 exceptions existed, now only three remain. The leg-islation also places standards on the remaining exceptions so theyare no longer rubberstamp formalities automatically approved bythe Department of Education. This is just the rst step in our effortto overhaul Pennsylvania’s public school funding system.

Welfare: One of the bright spots in this budget was the ef-fort to nally get a handle on out-of-control welfare spending.We were able to reduce the governor’s welfare request by $400million, sending a portion of this money instead to education pro-

grams. Some of the cost-saving measures include prohibitingbenet shopping by welfare applicants, better management of the special allowances program and the implementation of anIncome Eligibility Verication System. We will also begin drugtesting any welfare recipient who has had a felony drug convic-tion in the past ve years.

So-Called Surplus: For the rst time in several years,Pennsylvania’s revenue collections actually exceeded expecta-tions. This left us with a $785 million balance for 2010-11 scalyear. Some lawmakers, calling this balance a surplus, wanted touse this $785 million. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania has more than$50 billion in unfunded liabilities with which to contend. Theseinclude $4 billion owed to the federal government for unemploy-ment compensation assistance, almost $30 billion needed to ap-propriately fund public pensions, and nearly $13 billion in long-term debt. To put it in mathematical terms:

785,000,000 ($785 million)

- 50,000,000,000 ($50 billion)- 49,215,000,000

Negative $49.2 billion is not a surplus!

Looking Ahead: One of our goals with this budget was tomap out a sensible spending plan for this year, and also to lookahead to Pennsylvania’s future. This budget is about sustainabil-ity now and for years to come. Fiscal responsibility is the newmotto. With the new year under way, we are now examining waysto further streamline state government and to continue to en-hance our appeal to employers. This budget lays the groundworkfor a return to prosperity, and I am proud to have been a part of it.

Impact of Expiring Federal Funds:

10.9 %

FY 10-11 General Fund Spending

FY10-11 ARRA Stimulus Funds

Basic Education: $1.1 Billion

Higher Education: $91 Million

Corrections: $173 Million

Public Welfare: $1.8 Billion

Total: $3.1 Billion

Correcons$1.87 billion

7%

All Other$2.69 billion

10%

Debt Service$1.04 billion

4% PreK-12 Educaon$9.34 billion

34%

Public Welfare$10.56 billion

39%

HigherEducaon

$1.65 billion6%

General Spending: $27.15 Billion

PROUD TO SERVE YOU IN THE 160TH LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT!

rep barrar summer newsletter

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