Not Piccola

Piccola Votes for Pork (unlike Folmer & Eichelberger)

2008-04-04T21:46:00.004-05:00

Thanks to GrassrootsPA for exposing this:

The state Senate voted 47-2 to approve $12.9 billion in capital projects, mostly to be financed by debt.

The vote can be found here. Piccola voted Yes.

As we commented on that GrassrootsPA thread, Piccola's the Mitt Romney of the Midstate. Except at some point, to kiss up to conservatives, Piccola might want to vote like one now and then. To those who have been reading this blog, Piccola's latest vote is no surprise -- it fits with Piccola's 2003 vote for Rendell's tax hikes, Piccola's 2001 vote for the pension hike, and more.

And Piccola wants to be Senate president? No thanks!

OK, Mr. Small Government Piccola. Are You Going Along With $47 Million in State Funding Package for Soccer Stadium in Philly Area?

2008-01-31T22:05:00.000-05:00

From the Associated Press, today:

CHESTER, Pa. - Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled a $47 million state funding package Thursday to aid in the construction of a soccer stadium on the Chester waterfront, the latest step in an effort to attract a Major League Soccer franchise to the Philadelphia area.

Rendell and state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, surrounded by other state, county and city officials, announced the aid package ...

OK, time to look to Mr. Small Government, the would-be president of the Senate, who lost out for that job by one vote to Scarnati. Will Senator Jeff Piccola speak up on this taxpayer ripoff at this critical time?

Or will Piccola be silent as he was when the 2005 pay raise passed -- and just let this new taxpayer ripoff go, too?

A first-term state Rep., RoseMarie Swanger (R-Lebanon), has already been out front on this.
Of course, she hasn't been in the legislature since the 1976 (!)election.

Here's Swanger, more than a month ago (Dec. 19): "With our roads and bridges in dire need of repair, the governor wants to lure into the Philadelphia area a sport that has failed there twice. We need to be in the business of spending taxpayer money more responsibly than this."

A check of Piccola's website yields... silence. Run a search for "soccer" -- see what you get. Oh, he does have a 1-25-08 column titled "PA Needs Budget that Restrains Government Spending & Responsibly Tackles Important Issues."

But it doesn't say a word about this boondoggle. Is Piccola's district getting a soccer stadium of its own?

Perzel-Era Records Subpoenaed (Finally). Now, What About Senate Republican Angle to Bonusgate?

2007-10-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

As several newspapers' websites are reporting today, the attorney general has (finally) subpoenaed records from House Republicans.

Now let's make sure the forgotten angle of this isn't forgotten -- what was going on under Jubelirer and Brightbill? (Yeah, look at the Senate Democrat caucus too if you want, but they're basically impotent.)

From Peter DeCoursey's Capitolwire column, reprinted in the Oct. 23 Lancaster Intelligencer Journal (subscription required, unfortunately):

How about the Senate? Well, over there, staffers, who spent a lot of time in 2006 doing campaign work for Senate leaders or gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann, got roughly the same five-figure bonuses in 2006 they got in 2005, even while working less for the state. House Democratic staffers who are accused of doing that for former House Minority Whip Mike Veon, D-Beaver, are getting lots of Corbett's time and energy.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story Sunday that outlined what it found when digging through House Democrat records and looking at who stayed on the payroll while campaigning. What DeCoursey says suggests that there is similar journalistic gold to be found if someone does a similar look at the Senate records from the final year of Jubelirer-Brightbill leadership. The whole Capitol needs to be cleaned up.

Nanny Piccola?

2007-07-28T17:11:00.001-05:00

GrassrootsPA has been featuring the following when covering the proposed smoking ban:

Statist Anti-Freedom State Senate Republicans:
Nanny-State Senate ‘Republicans’ Willing To Strip Individuals And Property Owners Of Their Rights In Order To Advance A Statewide Smoking Ban:
Jake Corman
Edwin Erickson
Stewart Greenleaf
Jane Orie

Interesting, but let's complete the list. One of the biggest nannies on this issue is none other than some conservatives' preferred candidate to replace Scarnati -- Jeff Piccola!

In all, I think we have 10 new candidates for the nanny list: Armstrong, Baker, Brubaker, Madigan, Piccola, Pippy, Rafferty, Rhoades, Vance and Wonderling.

Here's why. Piccola voted No in June on the key McIlhinney amendment that put more exemptions in
the no-smoking bill (S.B. 246). So did Armstrong, Baker, Brubaker, Madigan, Pippy, Rafferty, Rhoades, Robbins, Scarnati, Vance and Wonderling.

And when the Senate
voted July 16 to reject the very restrictive House version of the bill in favor of more freedom, those voting Yes (to go along with the House bill) included: Armstrong, Baker, Brubaker, Madigan, Piccola, Pippy, Rafferty, Rhoades, Vance and Wonderling.

Iceberg Dead Ahead? Conservative Dissatisfaction with Piccola

2007-01-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

Judging from GrassrootsPA, the party establishment -- in Central PA, anyway -- may be (unwisely) hopping on the Piccola bandwagon. (Pension-Jacker Piccola can raise money, and he's been around a long time, a looooong time, which the establishment likes. Of course, he'll NEED money to defend his record. The Dems must be rubbing their hands with glee.)

But if the elections of 2006 showed anything, it was that those pesky rank-and-file people -- voters! -- don't always fall in lockstep behind the establishment anymore. You can see this in several of the comments on GrassrootsPA about the recent Central PA caucus endorsement vote. Here is a sampling:

Bob Guzzardi:

Piccola is also Pro Asher, an unrepentent convicted perjurer and attempted briber of public officials and a national representative of Penna Republican State Committee. Really, does this give one confidence in a Piccola candidacy?

"SEPA":

Piccola won did relatively poorly on his home turf. Just like when he ran for governor. Folks still haven’t forgotten when he ran a slate of pro-choice candidates to knock off the many pro-lifers that were once upon a time on State Committee in central PA. Piccola also voted for the third largest tax increase in history.

More Guzzardi:

Mike Long’s involvement in any race has to mean that Reform Conservatives will not support that candidate. I am surprised at Jeff Piccola. He should know that.

"Yvonne":

By the way, I didn’t realize that Jeff Piccola hired Long. That changes everything in my mind. Good luck, Jeff, but you won’t have me advocating for you personally.

"Clark Kent":

So what exactly is Piccola’s abortion stance…? Last I checked he was pro-choice but switched to pro-life when he ran for Gov.

Sounds like someone read our recent post "Pro-Choice Piccola? An F+ on Tax-and-Spend? Yikes."

Pension-Grab Piccola: His 2001 Vote Still Costs Us

2007-01-10T18:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Eric Epstein of Rock the Capital, one of several reform groups formed in reaction to the infamous pay raise, the public can now easily access the list of the 41 state senators who voted for the whopping pension grab of 2001. (We could adopt the Tribune-Review's style and call them "pension-jackers.") Epstein is a liberal but he has no problem going after Dems, and he has provided a real public service by digging up this info. He sent it to several people recently, including a friend of this blog.

Given Senator Jeff Piccola's record, we here at Not Piccola figured he was one of the Yes votes. And he was.

Here's an image of the roll call sheet.

Hopefully Rock the Capital will post a PDF of the roll call vote in case anyone has trouble viewing the image we've posted here.

In addition to Piccola, other notable "conservatives" among the 41 Senate pension-jackers include Scarnati, Mary Jo White (but NOT Don White), Corman, Punt, Madigan, Rhoades... Jubelirer and Brightbill too (surprise).
Armstrong appears to have been absent. Pileggi wasn't in the Senate yet, so he can't be blamed for this one.
And two "conservative" state senators who are now congressmen -- Gerlach and Tim Murphy -- voted for the pension grab too.

Need a refresher course on why the pension grab is such a big deal?

Tony Phyrillas column in the Pottstown Mercury: "The pay raise, which was repealed following months of public outcry, would have cost taxpayers about $20 million a year. The pension scandal has a potential price tag of $4.5 billion."

Tribune-Review editorial: "Lawmakers who put in three years and pass their 50th birthdays get their pensions without penalty, courtesy of state taxpayers. Those who stick around -- and most do -- typically walk away with more pension income than the average Pennsylvania worker earns in a year."

(Jeff Piccola had 24 years in the legislature as of 2001, and now he's up to 30. If he can get himself 10 years or more on the state Supreme Court, he could probably rack up an even fatter pension!)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article: Think tank sees trouble for Pa. pension funds

For you policy wonks, here's a link to the Commonwealth Foundation's report.

And the Trib again -- an article on what this means at the local level, for your property taxes: "The contribution increase in 2012 will boost costs by $22 million in Pittsburgh Public Schools, $2.7 million at Shaler Area, $2.5 million at Penn Hills and at North Hills, $2.4 million at Baldwin-Whitehall and $1.2 million at Quaker Valley. Shaler Area's Bennett said he would prepare two years ahead of time for the cost jump by encouraging early teacher retirements or property tax hikes."

How much will Jeff Piccola's pension-grab vote cost YOU? Kiss that property tax cut good-bye!

PREVIOUS POSTS:

Intro to Piccola's Record (including his vote for the 2003 package of tax increases

Pro-Choice Piccola? An F+ on Tax-and-Spend? Yikes

Pro-Choice Piccola? An F+ on Tax-and-Spend? Yikes

2006-12-17T15:30:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of the nonpartisan group Project Vote Smart:

Pro-Life? Well...

2000 Based on voting records, a candidate questionnaire, and other information available in 2000, Senator Piccola was endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice Pennsylvania.

2002 Senator Piccola was rated pro-choice on Abortion by Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates in 2002.

2003-2004 Senator Piccola was rated PRO on Choice by Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates in 2003-2004.

Taxing and Spending

2005 Senator Piccola supported the interests of the Commonwealth Foundation 54 percent in 2005.

2003-2004 In 2003-2004 Commonwealth Foundation gave Senator Piccola a rating of F+.

This of course fits with his vote for the 2003 Rendell tax increase bill.

Second Amendment

1993-2002 Senator Piccola supported the interests of the Firearms Owners Against Crime 50 percent in 1993-2002.

1993-1998 Senator Piccola supported the interests of the Firearms Owners Against Crime 33 percent in 1993-1998.

Pro-Union?

2001-2002 On the votes that the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO considered to be the most important in 2001-2002, Senator Piccola voted their preferred position 77 percent of the time.

Tips?

Unlike Senator Piccola, this blog doesn't have a huge taxpayer-funded staff. So if you have tips, or better yet, documentation, of bad votes he's cast in his 30 (yes, 30) years in the legislature, etc., please send it to us.

We're especially interested in info on his conversion from pro-choice to pro-life.

Thanks to those who have already e-mailed -- one of your items should be showing up here soon!

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Intro to Piccola's Record

2006-12-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

So State Senator Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin and York counties), having been rejected for governor and for senate president, is being mentioned for one of the open seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2007. This blog was created to shed some light on whether that's such a great idea.

Something tells me that Piccola is going to have problems if he runs for Pennsylvania Supreme Court.. For example, his record isn't as conservative or as consistent as his talk.. the Dems will have a ball picking him apart in the fall.

For example (yeah, it's a Democratic source, but the press likes this type of info, regardless of the source)...

Piccola Backed Rendell Initiatives:

May 18 (2006) -- Senate Democrats today delivered to Jeff Piccola's office the commemorative signing pens for seven landmark Rendell initiatives for which Piccola voted.

Since it's a Democratic release, they conveniently forgot to mention the 2003 Rendell tax hike bill, which Piccola voted for... ka-ching, ka-ching:

Act 46 of 2003, formerly House Bill 200, included:
-- nearly 10 percent increase in the state personal income tax
-- 5 percent gross receipts tax on your cell phone bill
-- slowdown in the phase-out of the job-killing capital stock & franchise tax

Thanks, Jeff!

No doubt Piccola will say he "had" to vote for these things since he was in leadership, but is that the kind of "leader" and "principles" we want?

Now, back to some other Rendell initiatives Piccola voted for:

-- Act 72 (Anyone get that property tax cut yet?)

"He was proud enough at the time to issue a press release in which he called Act 72 'the first significant change in the state's property tax system in more than three decades,' and said 'This will provide taxpayers what they want – less reliance on property taxes and more local control.'"

It gets worse...

Piccola also co-sponsored and supported Senate Bill 10 of '03-'04, which established the Economic Enhancement Fund and the Economic Enhancement Financing Authority. He also supported – but now apparently regrets – Senate Bill 80 of '03'-'04, which hiked basic education subsidies by more than $150 million, provided a first-ever state supplement for Head Start of $15 million and created a $47 million tutoring program.

Ka-ching, ka-ching...Borrow, borrow, like there's no tomorrow...

Piccola (also) supported and now regrets:

Senate Bill 1026 of '03-'04, the keystone of Gov. Rendell's "Plan for a New Pennsylvania, creating the Commonwealth Financing Authority. The CFA oversees the administration of $1.135 billion in economic development investments.

Again, the full press release is here.

I guess one question is, if Piccola runs for (yet) another office, which Piccola will we get?

More installments ahead... and feel free to pass along tips and info.