State Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, held an economic town hall forum today in Wayne to discuss his plans to revive the nation’s economy and field questions from voters.

The event was attended by more than 50 people, who asked questions on a range of issues, including job creation, reducing the nation’s debt and tax policies.

During the forum, Lentz said he supported giving companies incentives to invest and expand, and providing small businesses with access to loans to bring good-paying jobs to the region.

Lentz also said he supported educational programs in fields where demand for an educated and trained workforce was increasing, like math and engineering, to
make the area attractive for prospective businesses.

“Over the past decade, too much of our country’s focus was on creating wealth through risky investments,” Lentz said. “These steps I am proposing are a foundation for creating jobs here in America in fields and industries that will support working families.”

Lentz has made saving and creating jobs the cornerstone of his campaign for Congress. He is the only candidate with a published plan to get our economy moving again and the only candidate who supports Wall Street reform and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen.

Lentz has also pledged to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas while his opponent Pat Meehan has signed a pledge to continue rewarding companies that outsource American jobs.

A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County.

He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and
their son Thomas.

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Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced the following nominations and appointments:

Nominations (require Senate confirmation)

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
Mark Schwartz, Huntingdon Valley – reappointment

Appointments

Mine Families First Response and Communications Advisory Council
The Hon. Richard L. Fink, Templeton (alternate)
John L. Kline, Nicktown
Small Business Council
James F. McManaman, Philadelphia
Pedalcycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee John Joseph McNulty, Philadelphia
Delaware Basin Regional Water Resources Committee
Jeffrey Featherstone, Ambler – reappointment
Julie Lyn Gallisdorfer, Pottstown – reappointment
The Hon. Kate Harper, Harrisburg – reappointment
Helen B. Haun, Chalfont – reappointment
John Hoekstra, Pottstown – reappointment
Gary M. B. Kribbs, P.G., Havertown – reappointment
Michael Meloy, Bala Cynwyd – reappointment
Howard Neukrug, Philadelphia – reappointment
Barbara L. Smith, Thornhurst – reappointment

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Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, announced today that he would be hosting a town hall forum on economic issues this Saturday in Wayne where he would be listening to voters’ concerns and sharing his plans to help jump start the economy.

The forum will be held at the Wayne Art Center at 413 Maplewood Avenue in Wayne this Saturday starting at 3 p.m.

The forum will be a good opportunity to hear from voters about what issues they want addressed by their next representative as the nation emerges from the recent recession, Lentz said. He also said he looked forward to sharing
his plans for bringing more good-paying jobs to the 7th District.

“The top priority for my campaign has always been making sure there are enough good-paying jobs in the 7th district to support our working families,” Lentz said. “I look forward to sharing with voters how we can make that happen, and making sure that they know that their next representative will be addressing any other concerns they may have about the economy.”

Lentz has made saving and creating jobs a cornerstone of his campaign for Congress. He is the only candidate with a published plan to get our economy moving again and the only candidate who supports Wall Street reform and the
creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen.

Lentz has also pledged to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas while his opponent Pat Meehan has signed a pledge to continue rewarding companies that outsource American jobs.

“In my district and around this nation, we have the most talented, creative and hard working people anywhere,” Lentz said. “We should be putting in place policies that harness that power, not undercut it.”
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A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County.

He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.

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Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that Secretary of Administration Naomi Wyatt will resign effective July 30 to become vice president for business development at Electronic Ink, a Philadelphia-based international business system design firm.
Wyatt was appointed as secretary of administration in August 2007. She previously served as the Office of Administration’s deputy secretary for human resources and management, and also as the executive director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Productivity.
“Secretary Wyatt has been an incredibly effective leader. Her intelligence and tenacity have made Pennsylvania’s government work smarter,” Governor Rendell said. “Under Naomi’s leadership, the Office of Administration has saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The economy has been tough on state revenues. Employees and citizens would have felt even more negative impacts if not for Naomi’s hard work.”
The Governor appointed Christian Soura to succeed Wyatt as secretary. Soura is director of OA’s Office of Strategic Services, a position he had held since 2008. Soura previously served as deputy director of the Office of Management and Productivity and as a budget analyst for the Senate Appropriations Committee.

He holds master’s degrees in political science from the University of Illinois and public administration from Penn State, and a graduate certificate in public budgeting and financial management.
At the Governor’s Office of Administration, Wyatt leads a 2,200 employee agency that provides human resources, information technology, continuity of government, travel operations, records management and strategic consulting services to more than 45 agencies, boards and commissions under the Governor’s jurisdiction.

The office also oversees the building and operation of the state’s 800 MHz public safety radio system, which covers 95 percent of the state. Last year, the system supported nearly 40 million “push-to-talk” transactions and millions more data-related transactions, including instant access to state and federal law enforcement databases for State Police troopers working from their vehicles.
Under Secretary Wyatt’s leadership, the radio network’s extensive infrastructure has been leveraged to secure a $29 million federal grant to help bring high-speed broadband internet services to 30 counties north of Interstate 80.
Last year, the Office of Administration launched a statewide HR service center to centralize the processing of common human resource issues, like managing benefits, updating personal information and changing payroll options. Centralizing this work is estimated to save $3.5 million annually.
Under Secretary Wyatt’s leadership, the Office of Administration also renegotiated key contracts for data center and telecommunications services, resulting in a projected $300 million in savings over the next seven years.
During Wyatt’s tenure, the Office of Administration’s Office for Information Technology has been recognized for its innovation and leadership by the Center for Digital Government, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, and the Computerworld Honors Program, among others.

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State legislator Bryan Lentz further confirmed that he will serve as a rubber stamp to policies supported by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she visited Philadelphia for an exclusive fundraiser to boost Lentz’ campaign for Congress.

“While Bryan Lentz will be rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi’s agenda in Congress, Pat Meehan will serve as a check and balance on some of the liberal policies being pushed through Congress,” said Bryan Kendro, campaign manager for Meehan’s Congressional campaign.  “The differences between the two candidates could not be more clear: Bryan Lentz’ first vote as a member of Congress will be for Nancy Pelosi, Pat Meehan’s will not.”

Kendro noted how rare it was for Pelosi to personally fundraise for individual candidates, attributing it to the fact that Lentz has already come out in favor of much of Pelosi’s agenda. That includes the cap and tax plan which will drive up the costs of energy on consumers and businesses; burdensome and costly new regulations on small businesses; health care legislation that does nothing to control costs; and financial reform that fails to address the problem of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“In Harrisburg, Bryan Lentz fell in line with his Democratic leaders and voted to increase state spending and raise taxes, and he will do the same in Washington,” said Kendro.  “We can’t afford another Pelosi disciple like Lentz in our Congress.  Pat Meehan will serve as an independent voice of voters and will fight to balance the budget, extend the middle class tax cuts, and support common sense legislation that helps grow our economy and create jobs.”

Bryan Lentz’ support for Nancy Pelosi has earned him $14,000 in campaign contributions from Nancy Pelosi, including $4,000 from her personal campaign committee and another $10,000 from her leadership PAC.  A $5,000
contribution from her leadership PAC was just reported in Lentz campaign finance filings reported to the Federal Election Commission last week.

About Pat Meehan

A former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the former District Attorney of Delaware County, Pat Meehan has a proven record of rooting out government waste and corruption, prosecuting tough criminal cases, and implementing innovative new programs to make our communities safer.  As U.S. Attorney, Meehan helped coordinate the region’s terrorism preparedness and response, held manufacturers responsible for illegally discharging hazardous materials into the region’s waters, and established a group to crackdown on predatory lending.  Pat, his wife Carolyn and their three sons Patrick, Jack and Colin, reside in Drexel Hill, Delaware County.

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Attorney General Tom Corbett today joined the Attorneys General from Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin in a federal lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, seeking immediate action to prevent the spread of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes.

According to the lawsuit, the carp currently infest the Chicago Area Water System, operated by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, which links directly to Lake Michigan.

“The spread of this invasive, non-native species into the Great Lakes could have a major impact on every state surrounding the lakes – devastating native fish populations and potentially destroying the fishing and tourism industries for every state that borders the Great Lakes,” Corbett said.

The lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeks a court order directing the Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to take immediate and comprehensive action to minimize the risk that Asian Carp will migrate into the Great Lakes, and to plan and implement permanent measures that will physically separate the carp-infested waters in Illinois from Lake Michigan.

Corbett said that Pennsylvania has been working closely with Michigan and other concerned states to press for an effective response to this ecological threat.  The need for immediate action was made even more urgent by the discovery last month of an Asian Carp just six miles from Lake Michigan and beyond various barrier systems.

Corbett noted that the value of sport and commercial fishing in the Great Lakes, along with tourism and other related business activities is valued at more than $7 billion dollars per year – something that could be devastated if this species is allowed to infest the lakes.

“Any further delays in responding to this potential environmental and economic disaster are totally unacceptable,” Corbett said.  “I am committed to working together with my fellow Attorneys General to offer a strong voice in support of our states’ interests in this issue.

Corbett explained that the Office of Attorney General is representing Pennsylvania’s interests in the Asian Carp case because it is directly linked to legal actions dating to the early 1900′s regarding the waters of the Great Lakes, including a 1967 decree by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Attorney General’s Office represented the Commonwealth’s interests in those original cases and has been involved in reviewing related legal matters since that time.

Additional information about the threat posed by Asian Carp, along with the multi-state effort to address this issue, is available at www.stopasiancarp.com.

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Representative Bryan Lentz, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, hosted a town hall forum for seniors in Upper Darby.

The hour-long event drew about 50 people to American Legion Post 214 in Upper Darby. In a 45-minute question and answer session that was part of the event, Lentz responded to the concerns of those who attended the meeting on a range of issues, including Social Security, helping reduce the cost of health care and cutting the debt.

“Protecting our Seniors and the benefits they have earned should be our number one priority,” Lentz said. “These issues are too important for partisan politics because it is the national obligation of every American to honor those who came before us. It doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat or a Republican, we should all be able to agree on that.”

Lentz stressed that his solutions for fixing the challenges facing the nation diverged greatly from his Republican opponent, Pat Meehan. Lentz said Meehan favored tax policies that encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas, and that he was part of a Party that supported radical changes to Social Security and Medicare.

“He is a member of a Party that has already made a decision to increase the age of Social Security and to cut and privatize portions of Medicare and Social Security,” Lentz said. “I disagree with that approach. I disagree with making that decision before we’ve even had a debate” over what’s the best way to fix the problem, he added.

Meehan maintains close ties to prominent Republicans who want to reduce benefits for Seniors and put their Social Security benefits at risk in the stock market, Lentz said. Republican Minority Leader John Boehner, who supports raising the nation’s retirement age to 70, recently donated $10,000 to Meehan’s campaign. Meehan was also the former campaign manager of Rick Santorum, one of the most outspoken supporters of privatizing Social Security.

A former Airborne Ranger, criminal prosecutor and Iraq War veteran, Bryan Lentz currently serves in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from Delaware County. He was awarded both the Bronze Star for Service and the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal for his military service. He lives in Swarthmore with his wife Jennifer and their son Thomas.

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Two transit projects that will improve transit service, livability and technology received a total of nearly $9 million in Federal Transit Administration funding, Governor Edward G. Rendell said today. “We need these funds to help rural and urban transit agencies improve services for customers,” Governor Rendell said. “However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that these grants don’t come close to plugging the current and growing public transit funding hole. We need the General Assembly to act now to identify funding to replace and upgrade equipment, improve technologies and efficiency, and ultimately improve service for Pennsylvanians.”

PennDOT received $5 million to update technologies which support and enhance human service, curb-to-curb transportation services to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness statewide. Examples include acquiring paratransit scheduling and vehicle locator technology, automated telephone service, web-based trip scheduling and real-time information access.

The grant is matched with $10 million in federal funding PennDOT receives for rural public transportation and $5 million in state discretionary funding. The grant will be distributed over the next five years based upon human service transportation providers’ need, readiness and commitment to implement efficiency measures.

This technology supports PennDOT’s human service transportation goals of improving the customer experience, maximizing service delivery efficiency and promoting cost containment — all goals which were identified in the July 2009 Human Service Transportation Coordination Study conducted jointly with the departments of Aging and Public Welfare.

The second grant is nearly $4 million to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, toward the cost of completely renovating the Wayne Junction Intermodal Facility, which was built about a century ago. SEPTA and the state are still working on identifying money to pay the balance of the project’s $20 million total cost.

“Closing the gap for paying for this important improvement is just one more reason why we need action now in the special legislative session on transportation,” Governor Rendell said. Pennsylvania received the grants from a $163 million program administered by U.S. Department of Transportation. Winners of two competitive grant programs were announced yesterday in Washington.

The two Pennsylvania grants were among 47 projects aimed at upgrading bus services and facilities through the Federal Transit Administration’s Bus and Bus Livability Program. Pennsylvania’s Transportation Advisory Committee issued a report in May identifying $484 million in unmet public transit needs this year. The shortfall grows to more than $3 billion by 2029-30.

In addition to the two grants announced this week, PennDOT already is working with local transit agencies across the state to improve efficiencies and customer service, including:

• Adams and York counties and Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery counties — PennDOT is helping improve management efficiencies and designing multi-tiered fare structures.

• Clarion County – PennDOT is helping to select another organization to propose and implement a new management design for Clarion County human service transportation.

• Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union counties – PennDOT will help facilitate discussions about coordination of services between these agencies.

• Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry counties – PennDOT will help facilitate discussions about coordination of services between these agencies.

• Greene, Washington counties – PennDOT will provide technical assistance to design a new business model to combine or consolidate functions between the two counties and create a satisfactory governance structure.

• Lackawanna, Luzerne counties and Hazelton – PennDOT will provide technical assistance to develop a full merger plan focusing initially on the three fixed route systems.

To learn more about Human Service Transportation in Pennsylvania, visit www.dot.state.pa.us and click on the “Bureau of Public Transportation” under “Public Transportation.”

Information for transportation services available to seniors and persons with disabilities is also available at: www.PACommutes.com.

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Governor Edward G. Rendell today reappointed James B. Ginty of Philadelphia to serve as a member of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The Governor first appointed Ginty to the PGCB in August 2007. Ginty is currently Senior Vice President for Key Executive Services for Right Management.

Prior to that, he was President of AT&T Pennsylvania and held various other positions within that business. Ginty holds a degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, created by Act 71 of 2004, oversees the nine casinos now operating in the state.

More information about the board is available at www.pgcb.state.pa.us.

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Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed into law the following bills:

Senate Bill 87: An Act amending the act of December 15, 1982 (P.L. 1266, No. 287), entitled, as amended, “An act conferring limited residency status on military personnel, their dependents and civilian personnel assigned to an active duty station in Pennsylvania,” expanding applicability of the act to include all active duty personnel and their dependents.

Senate Bill 1044: An Act amending Title 61 (Penal and Correctional Institutions) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for prescription medication redistribution within correctional facilities.

Senate Bill 747: An Act authorizing the Department of Transportation to sell land under certain conditions; and repealing certain provisions of The Administrative Code of 1929.

House Bill 1186: An Act amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L. 177, No. 175), known as The Administrative Code of 1929, establishing the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs; providing for governing body of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency; making a related repeal; repealing related provisions of the Pennsylvania Drug and Alcohol Abuse and Control Act; and making editorial changes.

House Bill 1251: An Act amending the act of May 17, 1921 (P.L. 682, No. 284), known as The Insurance Company Law of 1921, providing for minimum number of covered employees; further providing for duties of insurers and insurance producers, for investment, for group accident and sickness insurance and for mini-COBRA small employer group health policies; providing for continuation of coverage reinstatement; in long-term care, further providing for definitions; and providing for appealing an insurer’s determination the benefit trigger is not met, for prompt payment of clean claims and for applicability.

House Bill 1332: An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for confidential communications to a critical incident stress management team member by law enforcement officers, public safety responders and corrections officers and for confidential communications to a peer support member by law enforcement officers.

House Bill 2493: An Act amending the act of February 1, 1974 (P.L. 34, No. 15), known as the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement Law, providing for implementation provisions for Deferred Retirement Option Plans, for corrective measures for maintaining tax qualified status of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System and for solicitation of political contributions; and making a related repeal.

House Bill 1890: An Act authorizing the Department of General Services, with the approval of the Governor, to grant and convey to The Pennsylvania State University, certain lands in Benner Township, Centre County; authorizing the Department of General Services, with the approval of the Governor, to grant and convey to Benner Township, certain lands in Benner Township, Centre County; authorizing the Department of General Services, with the approval of the Governor, to grant and convey to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, certain lands in Benner Township, Centre County; and authorizing the Department of General Services, with the approval of the Governor, to grant and convey to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, certain lands in Benner Township, Centre County.

House Bill 1300: An Act designating the interchange at Exit 32-B of Interstate 70 in Washington County as the Nathan Burnfield Memorial Interchange; and designating the Gay Street Bridge on State Route 113, which crosses French Creek in the Borough of Phoenixville, Chester County, as the Veterans Memorial Gay Street Bridge.

House Bill 1859: An Act amending Title 34 (Game) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions; in enforcement, repealing the offense of assaulting an officer, further providing for jurisdiction and penalties, for revocation, suspension or denial of license, permit or registration and for determination of second or subsequent convictions; in game or wildlife protection, further providing for endangered or threatened species; in hunting and furtaking, further providing for killing game or wildlife by mistake, for unlawful taking or possession of game or wildlife, for unlawful use of lights while hunting, for buying and selling game, for trespass on private property while hunting, for unlawful killing or taking of big game and for additional penalty for poaching; and, in hunting and furtaking licenses, further providing for unlawful acts concerning licenses.

House Bill 254: An Act amending the act of June 13, 1967 (P.L. 31, No. 21), known as the Public Welfare Code, in general powers of the Department of Public Welfare, further providing for determining whether applicants are veterans; in public assistance, further providing for medical assistance payments for institutional care; and providing for Statewide Quality Care Assessment.
For more information on specific bills, visit www.legis.state.pa.us.

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