State APSCUF headquarters in Harrisburg.

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS...

When Ed Rendell delivers his annual budget speech for the last time Tuesday, the governor known for bringing a kitchen-sink full of priorities is expected to outline a narrower set of goals.

For one, the second-term Democrat has a short time to coax a politically divided Legislature. Also, Pennsylvania's recession-ravaged tax collections are likely to leave little room for an ambitious agenda.

Then there's the approaching November general election that many say will deter legislators from taking up controversial issues.

"Self-preservation will trump everything else," predicted David W. Patti, president and CEO of Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, a Harrisburg-based business advocacy group that calls for an anti-tax philosophy in state government.

And so, with massive financial problems looming for Pennsylvania after Rendell leaves office, legislators from both parties expect the governor to announce an approximately $29 billion spending plan for the 2010-11 fiscal year that begins July 1.

Such a proposal would increase spending by $1.2 billion, or 4 percent, over the approved level this fiscal year.

It is likely to include another hefty increase for public schools, perhaps Rendell's top priority, although most of the increase would be necessary just to keep up with the rising cost of health care for the poor, social services, prisons and public employee pensions.

Legislators do not expect Rendell to seek an increase in the state's personal income tax, and he has said he will revive last year's failed proposals to impose new taxes on the extraction of natural gas and sales of cigars and smokeless tobacco.

He also is expected to try to start a discussion of how to address a huge, one-two financial punch – the expiration of federal stimulus aid in 2011 and a pension-obligation spike that will explode to $4 billion – projected to hit Pennsylvania.

Regardless of how the Legislature reacts, budget writers will closely watch the results of the state's tax collections in the big months of March and April.

The amount of money that pours in could set the tone for budget negotiations.

Arturo Perez, a budget analyst for the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures, said states should not plan for a financial recovery to begin until August or September at the earliest.

For the time being, many states, including Pennsylvania, are seeing tax collections fall short of projections that were designed to be conservative.

Still, Pennsylvania, the nation's sixth-most populous state, is in a relatively strong position.

Its unemployment and foreclosure rates are below national averages, and a November report by Perez's organization found that 20 states had accumulated a budget gap of 5 percent or more just a few months into the fiscal year.

Pennsylvania's current projected gap of $450 million is less than 2 percent, a shrimp compared to last year's multibillion-dollar shortfall that budgetmakers filled with federal aid, state cash reserves, spending cuts and a patchwork of new revenue sources, including casino gambling.

But Pennsylvania's still-faltering tax collections loom even larger, since the 101-day-late budget signed in October by Rendell may have pushed off the hardest decisions to 2010-11.

'BEHIND THE HEADLINES'

A crew from the television show "Behind the Headlines" was on hand at the recent APSCUF-PSEA Conference on Labor in Higher Education. A full show was created from footage taken at the conference.  The show is airing this week on cable systems throughout Pennsylvania.  A television production of The Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy, Behind the Headlines episodes are available for viewing online. You can watch all episodes of the show by clicking here.  

Behind the Headlines is taped in Harrisburg and is a production of the Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy, a non-partisan, non profit public policy research organization based in Hershey. Charlie Greenawalt, Senior Fellow for the Center, Professor of Government at Millersville University, and political analyst on WHP TV in Harrisburg, is the program host.

Faculty and coaches are invited to watch current and past episodes of Behind the Headlines online at www.thevoiceofpa.net

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Blue Shield Claim Form, Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information Form now online!!! APSCUF members can now download the Blue Shield Claim Form directly from the APSCUF web site! To acquire a Claim Form, click here!

To download the Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information form, click here!

Save money with Nationwide General Auto Insurance! Are you interested in getting a Car Insurance quotation from Randy Engle, APSCUF's Nationwide Insurance Agent? If so, click here!

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PROPOSED REVISION TO THE REPORT FROM THE GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON CLASS SIZE IN THE STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION Read the proposed revision to the report from the Governor's Task Force on Class Size in the PASSHE by clicking here.

(Note: This posting has been present for many months. It has been kept on the site for reference purposes.)

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RETIREMENT QUESTIONS? VISIT THE SERS, PSERS AND TIAA-CREF WEB SITES!

To visit the SERS web site, click here.

To visit the PSERS web site, click here.

To visit the TIAA-CREF web site, click here.

DO YOU NEED INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR STATE OR U.S. REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS? IF SO, USE THESE LINKS TO HELP!

Information about all Pennsylvania Representatives and Senators can be acquired via a web site maintained by the Commonwealth. To visit the site, click here.

Information about all United States of America Representatives can be obtained by clicking here.

Information about all United States of America Senators can be obtained by clicking here.

Finally, some higher education news briefs:

(Note: Many of the national and international higher education briefs originate with Academe Today, a service of the Chronicle of Higher Education. For further information about these briefs, email State APSCUF using the "E-mail APSCUF" link on the main web page):

*  Tufts U.'s President Will Step Down to Return to Teaching:  After nine years in office, Lawrence S. Bacow says he is not interested in another presidency: "It's one and done for me."

*  Coalition Seeks Better Conditions for Those Off the Tenure Track:  The group calls on colleges to give contingent faculty members better pay and support, but not all of its members have signed the statement.

*  Recession Affected Students' Financial Attitudes and Behaviors, Study Finds:  Nearly all students felt the impact of the economic slump, but women, members of minority groups, and financially needy students were pinched harder.

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