Monday, July 29, 2013

My kingdom for a formula for funding public education

Funding public education cannot be as difficult as our state legislature is making it out to be. Of course, any process can get convoluted over the years. That's why I'm suggesting we start from scratch in my latest rant on property tax relief. Start with a zero-based budgeting model. Put the whole process under a microscope and go from there.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The silence out of Harrisburg is deafening

While the conversation across the state is getting louder and louder, we're hearing nothing out of Harrisburg. Of course, they are on their summer break. So, here's where you're going to keep hearing about House Bill 76, which will eliminate the property tax as a means of funding public education. I have been writing about this issue for the past month, and some of the comments are inspiring, and some are down right sad. Here's an example of some of the many:I'm so glad to see this issue being discussed in your column. As someone who is facing the tax sale in September of my home of 24 years, I've been following all publicity for this bill. It is impossible for people who have only Social Security for income to pay $8,000 + each year for property taxes. We drained our IRA's to meet the tax bill each year until we couldn't.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Now it's your turn to rant about property taxes

I'm pretty lucky. I get to tell you what's on my mind every week. I know there are a lot of you out there who would love to have the same opportunity, so this week I'm giving it to you. The response from my columns on property tax reform has been outstanding. Unfortunately, some of it has also been sad, because I'm hearing from a lot of people who are on their last leg, financially. I don't know if we can get House Bill 76 passed into law before more people lose their homes, but I certainly believe we should give it our best shot.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Mike Turzai needs to hear from you

I decided, after all of the emails, online comments and telephone calls, that I should follow up last week's column on property tax reform with another installment. I've been harping about property tax reform for several years now, but I really believe this is the time for We The People to stand up and be heard. It is unfathomable to me that we cannot get House Bill 76 out of committee and onto the floor for a vote. I've heard from people all over the state, and one of the most disturbing comments came from western PA and Mike Turzai's district. He's apparently made in clear that a vote won't happen because he doesn't want it to happen. Turzai is the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, and can apparently decide whether a bill should come up for a vote, regardless of what a majority of the population wants. Here's Mike's website. Call him and tell him what you think about that.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Property Tax Reform Now!

We've been talking about property tax relief in Pennsylvania for far too long. Now it's time to let every one of our state legislators know that if they're not willing to work for the people we'll excuse them from their positions during the next state election cycle.