Smorgasbord of State Capitol News

Smorgasbords are the Pennsylvania Dutch Country version of an all-you-can-eat buffet, with lots of desserts.  Keep that image in mind as you read this week’s smorgasbord of news from the State Capitol….

ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION

Governor Wolf and Secretary of State Pedro Cortes announced Pennsylvania will begin to offer on-line voter registration in the next few weeks.  Pennsylvania will become the 23 ^rd state to allow voters to register online. Stay tuned for more information on how to access online voter registration.

 

RURAL TELEPHONE SERVICE

While the members of the State House were in town, the House Consumer Affairs Committee took the opportunity to hold a hearing about the future of rural telephone service in Pennsylvania.  AARP Pennsylvania’s Steve Gardner wrote about this hearing and reporters across the state also took a closer look at the issue, writing about it in the Harrisburg Patriot-News/Penn Live  and the Sharon Herald.

 

MEDICAID MANAGED LONG-TERM CARE

 Currently, individuals in need of long-term care services who have exhausted all of their savings and assets have the costs for their care paid by the Medicaid program.  The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services operates Medicaid and the system currently spends the majority of long-term Medicaid funding on nursing home care.  The state is considering contracting with managed care organizations to operate the Medicaid Long-Term Care program in hopes of utilizing more alternatives to nursing homes, such as home health care or assisted living for those in need of long-term care services.

Advocates for older Pennsylvanians want to make sure the Department of Human Services and the Department of Aging are considering the needs of older consumers as this change takes place.  Members of the Senior Support Coalition, which includes AARP Pennsylvania, have planned a number of meetings across the state to hear to the concerns of Pennsylvanians about this shift toward a managed care model.  They are particularly interested in hearing from consumers of long-term care services, both nursing home residents and their families, and home health care recipients and their families.  Here is a list of the meeting dates and locations:

Sept 9th at 6 PM
Jewish Association on Aging
200 JHF Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
contact: Lori O’Brien 412-422-9454

Sept 10 ^th at 10 AM
Golden Living Center – Walnut Creek
4850 Zuck Rd.
Erie, PA 16506

Sept 16 ^th at 4 PM
Allied Services
100 Abington Executive Park
Clarks Summit, PA

Sept 17 ^th at 10 AM
KleinLife
10100 Jamison Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19116

Sept 21 ^st at 10:30 AM
SpiriTrust Lutheran, The Village at Sprenkle Drive
1801 Folkemer Circle
York, PA 17404

 

STATE BUDGET UPDATE

Harrisburg briefly sprung back to life this week as the State House returned to session for a day.  As Pennsylvania approaches its 3 ^rd month without a state budget with negotiations seemingly going nowhere, the House leadership attempted a new approach.  The House held votes to partially override Governor Wolf’s veto of the state budget passed in June by the General Assembly.

Although the Governor vetoed the entire budget, the House proposed overriding only portions of the veto, which would allow spending on certain budget items.  Democrats insisted this was unconstitutional and that any attempt to override the veto must take place on the entire budget. Two-thirds of the House must vote to override a veto in order for the override to pass and none of the 21 proposals presented by the House leaders received enough votes.

Like a never-ending tennis match, the General Assembly and Governor continue to volley criticism back-and-forth, waiting for their opponent to make a mistake so they can charge in and win.  But the budget dispute doesn’t need to end like a tennis match, with a winner and loser.  Negotiations could produce a compromise position where each side would get some of their priorities while yielding on others.  But until both sides show a willingness to achieve this kind of result, Pennsylvania will continue to await a resolution of its budget impasse.

 

“Ray’s Round Up” features updates on current state and federal issues by Ray Landis, AARP PA’s Advocacy Manager.