politics

June 9, 2017

Bernstine Backs Pension Reform to Better Protect Taxpayers

HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) issued the following statement after the House of Representatives’ bipartisan vote to reform Pennsylvania’s two public pension systems, which have a combined unfunded liability of more than $62.7 billion: “While this legislation won’t make all our pension problems disappear, it represents a meaningful step that will reduce our massive unfunded liability by more than $5 billion. Most importantly, it shifts financial risk away from our hard-working taxpayers. Every dollar we add to our pension debt threatens the quality of our schools and the paychecks of our taxpayers, and we need to stop adding to…

June 6, 2017

Vogel Applauds Bipartisan Passage of Historic Pension Reform

Today (June 5) the Senate approved legislation reforming Pennsylvania’s two largest public pension systems, the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS). Senator Elder Vogel Jr. (R-47) praised the bipartisan passage of this historic reform which both limits future taxpayer liabilities while also still providing a competitive retirement benefit for school and state employees. “For years, school boards and fiscal watchdogs throughout Pennsylvania have been sounding the alarm about the unchecked growth of the state pension systems. In fact, the exponential growth of pension obligations is the #1 reason cited by school boards for…

May 24, 2017

Lawrence County Commissioners to Vote on Allocation Among 9 Local Municipalities

With nearly $600,000 in funding requests but with only slightly above $100,000 in available funds for 2017, the Lawrence County Commissioners will be voting on where $84,500 will be allocated among nine municipalities in Lawrence County. Due to the counties responsibility to maintain only 27 bridges and no roads, the county commonly has an excess of revenue funded by Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax. They often use the excess for distribution among the local municipalities for liquid fuel-eligible projects. Although commissioners agreed to give money to each community that made a request, none of the municipalities received the full amount requested. Ellwood…

May 17, 2017

Ellwood City Primary Election Results

The primary election results for Ellwood City and surrounding Lawrence County areas have been posted on Lawrence County’s official website. Republican incumbents, Connie MacDonald and David DeCaria lost to their challengers, running mates Rob Brough, John Cress, Brandon Fisher, and Lisa Guerrera, by over 100 votes. According to the site, Guerrera led the Republican party with 323 votes, Brough followed closely behind with 320, Cress with 305, and Fisher with 285. DeCaria finished with 173 votes – one more than MacDonald’s 172 votes. Democratic incumbent Michelle Lamenza lead the Democratic party with 335 votes – only five votes more than…

May 16, 2017

Bernstine, Court Agree to Send Information to District Attorney Office

ELLWOOD CITY – In response to parking tickets that were issued at a legislative press conference on Thursday, May 11, state Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-New Beaver) and Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court have jointly agreed to send documentation of the event to the Lawrence County District Attorney office, Bernstine announced today. Bernstine held a press conference in front of a private residence on Wampum Avenue to announce his legislation to better regulate municipal electric costs. Many attendees of the event, including Bernstine himself, received parking tickets from the Ellwood City Police Department. “Because I firmly believe that the tickets were…

May 12, 2017

VIDEO: Bernstine Presents Proposed Bill At Electric Press Conference

Yesterday, Republican State Representative, Aaron Bernstine, joined forces with Democratic State Representative, Pam Snyder, to promote change in the unregulated electric utility usage – a practice that occurs not only in Ellwood City, but in over 30 municipalities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. “This is an example of Republicans and Democrats coming together to do the right thing,” Bernstine stated. At the press conference, held outside a residential property on Wampum Avenue in Ellwood City, Bernstine publicly released information regarding his proposed legislation to regulate municipal owned electric companies. The legislation will discontinue the use of electric departments profits to…

May 12, 2017

PHOTOS: Bernstine Among Over Half Dozen Ticketed At Press Conference

During State Representative Aaron Bernstine’s electric press conference yesterday, nearly a dozen attendees, including both he and another state representative were issued parking tickets for parking arguably legally. The conference took place at a residential home on Wampum Avenue – a street that has parking prohibited signs posted along the west side of the street but no signs and no yellow curb present on the opposite side. According to the officer, parking on the side of the road the cars were parked along was illegal due to obstructing a fire lane; however the only no parking sign along the road…

May 10, 2017

Rep. Aaron Bernstine Endorses Mayoral Candidates

Today, State Representative Aaron Bernstine formally endorsed incumbent mayoral candidates Anthony Court of Ellwood City and George Quay of Beaver Falls. Both Court and Quay will be on the Democratic ballot in the primary election to be held on May 16th. Both mayors are also seeking write-in votes to secure positions on the Republican ticket for the general election in November. Representative Bernstine touted Mayor Courts’ integrity and commitment to marketing Ellwood City to employers. “Immediately after I took office, Mayor Court contacted me to express his support of my plan to bring new jobs to Ellwood City. He is a man…

May 9, 2017

SMC Councils Minimum Wage Survey Reveals Small Business Challenges with Governor’s Proposal

HARRISBURG, PA – In his 2017-18 budget, Governor Tom Wolf calls for a mandated increase in the minimum wage from $7.25 to $12 per hour effective on July 1 of this year, with no phase in period. SMC Business Councils, along with 10 affiliate organizations, conducted a minimum wage survey among 450 Western Pennsylvania small businesses, finding 85 percent of respondents disagreed with the governor’s proposal, while only 11 percent agreed. More than 30 members of SMC Business Councils will converge on Harrisburg on Monday, May 8, 2017 to present members of the Governor’s staff with results from the…

May 5, 2017

Ellwood City Borough Council Meet the Candidate Night Recap

Less than half of the running candidates attended yesterday evening’s Meet the Candidate Night, hosted by the Ellwood City Kitchen Cabinet. Four candidates, three of which are current members of council running for reelection, attended the public event. Democratic incumbent, Michele Lamenza, and newcomer, Caleb Cragle attended – their challengers, former councilman James Barry, and newcomers Bryan Vincent and John Pansera were not present. Republic incumbents, David DeCaria and Connie MacDonald were present while their republican challengers Rob Brough, John Cress, Brandon Fisher and Lisa Guerrera were absent. Brough, Cress, Fisher, and Guerrera released a joint statement Thursday morning saying…

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