While Governor Tom Corbett's higher education cuts have received most of the attention in recent debates over his budget proposal, other important and controversial changes have been overlooked. In an op-ed last Friday, Rep. Greg Vitali flagged some changes that would be harmful to the environment, including a proposal to permanently eliminate $20 million in funding for Pennsylvania's Farmland Preservation program.  This program has broad support from the voters, who are rightly concerned about the New Jersification of Pennsylvania's remaining open space and natural areas, but Governor …

In my last column I suggested some ideas for closing the Easton Area School District's budget gap that would go easy on most taxpayers, and the local economy. Ronnie DelBacco has been thinking about these issues too, and he wrote in to Patch in support of a bill in Harrisburg, the Property Tax Independence Act (HB1776), that would end the real estate tax altogether and fund school districts through an increase in the state sales tax. It would also eliminate sundry other minor local taxes, but the revenue loss would be offset through a small increase in the state personal income tax. While …

One of the things that's been standing in the way of faster job growth the past three years is state and local government layoffs. 464,000 public sector jobs have been cut since the recession started in December 2007. Our economy has seen modest private sector job growth throughout 2011, but we've also been hemorrhaging public sector jobs so unemployment isn't going down. Lately there have been some signs that we might see a real recovery in 2012 and 2013, but at least for another year, states, cities and school districts are going to continue to weaken the job market with more layoffs, …

The city of Easton and the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership recently applied for a grant to study a potential historic preservation district for the West Ward. As Ed Sieger reported, the West Ward has 18 different architectural styles, but many are covered up by aluminum siding. The neighborhood could be much more appealing to home buyers if more of these original facades were restored. The case for incentivizing more historic facade improvements is persuasive, and many cities have had great success with historical preservation as a development tool. Done well, preservation can beautify …

Beer drinkers of Pennsylvania would no doubt find it convenient to purchase six-packs in a supermarket, or order beer at any restaurant that wants to serve it. So why don't they have this freedom? And why isn't the state's political system delivering the change? Morning Call reporter Scott Kraus recently did the alcohol privatization debate a huge favor by taking a look at the politics of liberalizing PA's beer laws. As you might expect, any effort to change the law will run into a buzzsaw of opposition from the businesses who benefit from the current regulations. Any effort to change the …

When the United States was founded, only white male property owners had the right to vote. This practice endured until the 1820's, when the property requirement was phased out in favor of a requirement that all voters pay taxes. In 1850, the tax requirement was overturned, allowing most white males to vote.   Today, these restrictions on the franchise seem repugnant to most of us. And yet, this feudal concept of democracy is still alive in Pennsylvania, at the foundation of Pennsylvania's Neighborhood Improvement District Act. which last week enabled a minority of Easton's wealthiest property…

  CACLV Director Alan Jennings caused a small stir earlier this week when he publicly resigned from the Pennsylvania State Planning Board over disagreements with the Corbett administration. At issue was the Governor's failure to address the hollowing out of Pennsylvania's older core cities.  Mr. Jennings argued that with so many of Pennsylvania's third-class cities in distress, Tom Corbett's administration can't afford to delay big structural reforms to the way Pennsylvanians pay for municipal government. These distressed cities have all seen their tax bases crumble in predictable ways, and …

People vote for all kinds of strange reasons. The performance of college football teams has an impact on elections. People are more likely to vote for candidates whose last names start with letters earlier in the alphabet. I'm sure Patch readers would never do anything like this, but just in case you know someone who does, here are a few tips for how to be a better voter: Don't feel pressure to vote if you don't feel well-informed There's no shame in not voting if you don't think you'll be able to make good choices based on the information you have. Most people don't spend much time paying …

Is it time for a left-right alliance for property tax reform? It looks like there is growing support on the Tea Party right for replacing property taxes, and I contend that there are also many good reasons for liberals to be excited about the opportunity to jettison this uniquely heinous tax. Shifting the tax burden away from property and development toward consumption and land value would align incentives in ways that support core progressive goals. For example, untying the distribution of education funding from where people live would help struggling urban school districts and reduce …

It is starting to look like the Northampton County Republican Party thinks mismanaging money is an important credential for its political candidates. Earlier this year my colleague Bernie O'Hare exposed some unflattering details about Republican councilman Bruce Gilbert's financial history that led John Stoffa to withdraw the councilman's nomination for fiscal affairs Director. This culminated in Mr. Gilbert resigning from council's finance committee. Then this week we learned that Matt Connolly, the race car driver running for Council in District 3, is chronically delinquent on his taxes. Mr…

Last week Governor Tom Corbett and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi raised Pennsylvania's profile in the 2012 Presidential race with a plan to change the way Pennsylvania awards its electoral votes. Mr. Pileggi would have Pennsylvania join two other states, Nebraska and Maine, in abandoning the winner-take-all system. One electoral vote would be awarded for each of the 18 Congressional districts, and the winner of the popular vote would receive 2 more. If this system had been in place in 2008, President Obama would have beaten John McCain by a narrow margin - 11-10 - rather than winning…

A recent article at PA Independent sheds some light on a telling split between business organizations and political conservatives on President Obama's American Jobs Act. The National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, and Lockheed Martin all told Caleb Taylor that the AJA will help boost sales by putting people back to work. Notably, NFIB state director Kevin Shivers expressed disappointment that the plan may not go far enough to boost sagging demand: "Tax credits are great, but if you don't have customers coming in to buy stuff, few …

PBS-39 has come up with an interesting change to their business model that may hold some lessons for how we think about public funding for the arts. The new PBS station at Steel Stacks won't just create programming - it will also sell services to the public, and rent work space and equipment to businesses and filmmakers. Nicole Radzievich describes the changes in her recent piece on Pat Simon: The PBS39 Public Media and Education Center, the twin anchor with the ArtsQuest Center at Steel Stacks, includes two studios, six editing suites and satellite linkups on property that had been idle …

Back in June I asked how Charlie Dent would defend his vote to end Medicare, and it now appears that he simply won't. Despite his usual practice of holding town hall meetings during the August recess, Mr. Dent has so far declined to host a public gathering for constituents.   When he has appeared in public, it has been in front of friendly interest groups, or in situations where the Congressman is likely to be dominant, such as in conversations at the door with random residents. Given the Republican Party's ugly poll numbers, a streak of bad votes and Mr. Dent's own bad town hall experience …

It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Democrat Lamont McClure will help Ron Angle and the tea party-aligned Republicans kill off the Bi-County Health Department for good at next Thursday's Northampton County Council meeting. This would be a mistake. Mr. McClure is up for reelection this November. To win, he needs to turn out a larger number of Democratic voters than the number of Republican voters who turn out for his opponent, race car driver Matt Connolly. Municipal elections are known for very low turnout - much lower than midterm elections or Presidential elections. The smaller …

Bruce E. Davis of the Route 22 Coalition brings us the latest bad idea from the 2000's that should have been put out of its misery when the housing bubble popped. Mr. Davis has long been an advocate for widening Route 22 to a 6-lane freeway between 15th Street and Airport Road, but Ed Rendell's "fix it first" policy for infrastructure mercifully ended that idea's prospects for a while. But now, Tom Corbett's Transportation Funding Advisory Commission appears to have put the issue back in play, and local sprawl boosters are giddy. In a Morning Call opinion piece, Mr. Davis wrote: Within the […

My column this week is focused on Bethlehem parking issues, but the approach I'm endorsing would be equally useful in Easton and Allentown. Dennis Lieb recently proposed a version of this policy as a way to fund the Neighborhood Improvement District now under discussion in Easton. In fact, this column is especially timely considering Easton City Council is expected to take up the NID Wednesday night. Last week my blogger friend Jaime Karpovich started a discussion on her Facebook page that generated a lot of interest, regarding the lack of grocery stores in downtown Bethlehem. Here's her …

Rail supporters are going to need to rethink their strategy for bringing rail transit to the Lehigh Valley. Because New Jersey Governor Chris Christie short-sightedly cancelled the ARC Tunnel indefinitely, any rail connection from the Lehigh Valley to New York City will require a transfer. This will make rail a less competitive alternative to driving and taking the bus on both price and trip length. Until Cory Booker becomes governor of New Jersey and resumes construction of the ARC Tunnel, I think it would make sense for LV rail supporters to shift their attention to two goals: SEPTA and job…

My colleague Margie Peterson recently wrote about the benefits of "smart growth" land use policies for cities like Easton and Bethlehem, whose dense downtowns are benefitting from renewed interest in city living. But if human-scale, walkable development is "smart," it's worth reflecting on what's not smart: the low-density sprawl, McMansions and Big Box shopping centers the region was building furiously in the outlying townships before the housing bubble burst. The reason this kind of development isn't smart is that it's simply not sustainable, economically, fiscally or environmentally. Over …

Liquor store privatization appears to be back on the agenda in Harrisburg this fall, so this is a good time to start thinking about what consumers should want to see in the final bill. While there's a lot of support for the general concept of alcohol reform, consumers need to pay close attention to the specific proposals because there's a conflict between what's best for revenues and special interests and what's best for the alcohol-buying public. To kick off the conversation, here's my wishlist: Supermarket Sales While other states sell alcohol in supermarkets, bars, restaurants, and …