State lawmakers
are fighting for the good

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Despite being out of power for the first time in more than a decade, state Reps. John Perzel and George Kenney were able to achieve some wins during budget negotiations.
At the same time, their biggest initiative — hiring 10,000 police officers across the state — remains stalled.
The bill, sponsored by Perzel (R-172nd dist.), passed the House of Representatives last year under Republican rule before dying in the Senate.
The measure has always faced an uncertain future because Gov. Ed Rendell has not indicated he would sign it.
Perzel said he is trying to assist the city of Philadelphia as it deals with a rising murder rate.
"I’m trying to help with a municipal problem," he said.
However, Mayor John Street does not seem to want the help. Republican mayoral candidate Al Taubenberger supports the idea, while Democrat Michael Nutter has yet to state a firm position.
The Perzel plan would divide the funding of the newly hired police officers between the state and the city.
Street, who backed overtime shifts for police officers toward the end of his first term, believes the proposal would be too costly, adding that an increase in police department personnel would not necessarily lead to a decrease in crime.
"How do you actually say that with a straight face?" Perzel asked.
Last week, Perzel and Kenney (R-170th dist.) sat down with members of local news media at Perzel’s Mayfair district office to discuss budget and other issues.
When Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 1995, Perzel became majority leader and later rose to speaker. He worked closely with Kenney and Rep. John Taylor (R-177th dist.).
However, Democrats won a narrow 102-101 majority after the 2006 elections. But their leader, Rep. Bill DeWeese, could not win the votes to become speaker, so Perzel was poised to continue heading a Democratic-controlled House.
Then, in a last-ditch attempt to keep Perzel from staying in power, most Democrats and a half-dozen Republicans agreed to support Rep. Dennis O’Brien (R-169th dist.) — a longtime Perzel foe — as speaker.
Perzel, Kenney and Taylor continue to work in tandem on most, but not all, issues.
For instance, Perzel was the only local House member to oppose a statewide ban on smoking in public.
"It’s an individual freedom," he said.
Kenney, minority-party chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, voted for the ban because he believes smoking is unhealthy for smokers and the people around them. It’s also a great burden on the health-care system, he said, because of illnesses attributed to smoking.
"If tobacco was discovered today, it would be illegal," he said.
Perzel has never smoked and acknowledges that he used to become watery-eyed from customers smoking at the end of shifts when he worked as a dishwasher at Moe’s Deli and maitre d’ at Pavio’s Restaurant.
Smoking foes, he suggests, should work to ban cigarettes. As it stands now, he noted that taxes on cigarette sales significantly boost Pennsylvania’s revenue.
"I don’t like smoking, but I don’t want to raise your personal income tax because nobody smokes anymore," he said.
The House and Senate will address the issue again, perhaps as soon as September. The sticking points will be exemptions for certain public places and whether each municipality will be able to set stricter smoking laws.
Kenney said a statewide smoking ban is inevitable.
"It’s a matter of time," he said.
Perzel and Kenney agree on a series of education initiatives. They pushed for an increase in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program from $59 million to $75 million.
Under the EITC, businesses send donations to non-profit organizations that pass them on to private schools. The money is then used to help families pay tuition.
"It provides an alternative to the public school system," Perzel said.
The only negative part of the program, according to Kenney, is that it could use even more funding.
"There are not enough credits for businesses to buy," he said.
Perzel and Kenney are happy with the rising test scores among School District of Philadelphia students, attributing the improvement to the Republican-led state takeover of the district in December 2001.
The local lawmakers helped secure $17 million for disciplinary schools, with $14 million going to sites in Philadelphia. However, that’s a huge cut from the $43 million the schools received last year.
As for safety on Roosevelt Boulevard, Perzel and Kenney support an extension of the red light camera program. Rep. Tony Payton (D-179th dist.) has introduced a bill to extend the program, which tickets motorists $100 if they go through a red light at selected intersections.
"When the light turns red, you’re supposed to stop," said Perzel, one of the architects of the program.
Kenney is pushing a measure, which he might attach as an amendment to Payton’s bill, to use the camera technology to ticket speeders on the Boulevard.
On other issues, Perzel and Kenney are glad that the legislature will provide $5 million for hospital maternity wards across the state. The industry is reeling because of lawsuits and a shortage of insurance reimbursements. The state money will be matched by the federal government.
Hospitals, including Nazareth Hospital, will also benefit from $21 million in funding for uncompensated medical assistance claims.
As for funding SEPTA, bridges and roads, the most ambitious idea is to hike tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and add tolls on Interstate 80 in the northern and western parts of the state. However, two congressmen in those areas are trying to prevent the installation of toll booths. In response, Rendell is again floating the idea of leasing the turnpike.
Perzel and Kenney are not happy with the state Department of Public Welfare, arguing that the agency is doing a lousy job of funding investigations to discover fraud. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com