Gov. Tom Corbett/ETN file photo

A Philadelphia City Paper piece, posted today, offers further theory on Gov. Tom Corbett and his chances for re-election in 2014.
The piece states that “A secret poll conducted by a prominent Republican firm proposes that Gov. Tom Corbett attack the Philadelphia teachers union to overcome widespread opposition to his education policies and bolster his faltering re-election prospects.”
The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, which frequently handles such polling for GOP candidates.
Thoughts?

–Kevin Flowers

One of the most striking resemblances is between Attorney General Kathleen Kane and actress Lauren Graham.

The one between county executive Democratic nominee Kathy Dahlkemper and “Arrested Development” actress Lucille Bluth. Not so much.

Check out the politicians and their doppelgangers here, courtesy of PoliticsPA.

– John Guerriero

He will be in Erie on Thursday night to attend the Erie County Democratic Party’s summer picnic at Shade’s Beach in Harborcreek, starting at 5 p.m. Bill Cole, the party’s chairman, said it’s possible that some other Democrats running for governor could attend as well.

Pawlowski, Cole and Erie City Controller Casimir Kwitowski are holding a $50 per person breakfast fundraiser Friday, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., at the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel in support of a political action committee, Citizens for Pennsylvania Progress.

Pawlowski founded the PAC to support progressive Democrats throughout the state, said Mike Fleck, the mayor’s political director.

Pawlowski is running this year for re-election as mayor, but appears assured of another term. He was unopposed on the Democratic ticket  in the primary, and won a Republican write-in nomination, Fleck said.

Pawlowski holds another distinction, as his Twitter account states: He’s the mayor of the third largest city in Pennsylvania.  That’s a distinction that once belonged to Erie, which is now No. 4.

– John Guerriero

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey/File photo

Casey sent letters to Lorenzo Simonelli, chief executive of GE Transportation, and Scott Duke, president of UE Local 506, urging them to consider extending talks beyond the deadline in the hope that the parties will reach an agreement that preserves the maximum number of jobs in Erie.

Monday, Casey spoke with both Simonelli and Duke and reiterated the importance of taking all necessary steps to protect Erie’s economy from significant job loss at GE.

“The stakes are substantial. It’s critical that enough time is given to these negotiations in order to protect jobs in Erie and ensure GE remains a driver of northwestern Pennsylvania’s economy,” Casey said in a statement.

A two-month bargaining process began in April after the company announced plans to eliminate 1,050 jobs in Erie, including 950 of the plant’s 3,500 union jobs.

As part of that process, the union has 60 days to negotiate with the company and to seek a way to minimize the number of planned layoffs.

– John Guerriero

Clark, 63, 2nd Ward chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, is a nominee for the National Education Association’s “political activist of the year.”

Clark will be one of six to 12 nominees for the distinction. He will learn whether he won during the final day of the NEA’s representative assembly in Atlanta, on either July 6 or 7.

Clark, a custodian for 13 years at McDowell High School, is an NEA member.

Clark said he couldn’t believe it when he heard the news of his nomination.

“I was blown away. I’m just doing what I do. I was shocked that I was recognized,” he said.

“I thought I was under the radar,” he said.

Clark is being recognized for his activism in voter registration, as a member of “Educators for Obama,” his work on state campaigns and as a former Political Action Committee representative for the custodial union in Millcreek.

– John Guerriero

–Kevin Flowers

Sean Wiley/ETN file photo

The budget must be approved by June 30 to meet that deadline.

Here’s what he has to say:

With only 17 days left to pass the 2013-2014 Pennsylvania budget, the debate is now well underway in Harrisburg. On Wednesday, the House approved its budget plan

(HB 1437) along party lines. Now, it comes over to the Senate for debate.

 I stood with my colleagues earlier this month as we unveiled the Senate Democratic budget proposal. It is a reasonable and responsible alternative to the Governor’s proposal and the budget bill that came out of the House.

 Our proposal focuses on much needed additional funding for public education, as well as opportunities for job creation.

 Governor Corbett’s proposal provides approximately $6.5 billion for our public schools. The Senate Democratic proposal takes that a step further and adds more than $200 million to that total. In addition to that, our proposal includes $39 million in new funding for distressed school districts. If this funding makes it into the final approved budget, the Erie School District alone would benefit from the line item to the tune of $2.35 million dollars in addition to their operating budget.

 We must fund education responsibly. We cannot let politics get in the way of a quality education for our children. Education has been cut drastically in the past several years, and now it’s time to make up for those cuts. Here in the 49^th District, we’re seeing program cuts, teacher layoffs and other consequences of failing to properly fund public education.

 As part of the budget debate, we have focused on putting together a comprehensive transportation plan that is not only imperative for public safety reasons, but will also improve our transportation infrastructure and create tens of thousands of family sustaining jobs.

The $2.5 billion transportation plan (SB1) would help repair our crumbling roads and bridges. It dedicates funding for PennDOT projects right here in Erie County. It would also dedicate a new funding stream for mass transit. But, one of the most important aspects of SB 1 for Erie County is the new $130 million set aside for a multi-modal fund. This particular line item would provide $8 million for ports in the Commonwealth. It also doubles the operating budget for our Port Authority. The Port of Erie is a major economic driver of this community and one of only two deep water ports in all of Pennsylvania, which is why we must continue to invest in it.

 SB 1 passed through the Senate last week with bipartisan support. Now, it’s up to members of the House to see the numerous positive impacts this transportation plan will have on this Commonwealth and approve it as well.

 Finally, it appears as though the discussion surrounding liquor privatization will also be a hot topic as we near the budget deadline.

 HB 790 passed through the house earlier this year, and will now be debated in the Senate. It is still unclear as to whether or not there is support for this particular liquor privatization bill in the Senate.

 I have said all along that I am not in favor of the privatization plan. I believe the dollars that are provided by the state stores are a sustainable source of revenue that we can’t afford to lose. I also believe privatizing the industry would result in significant job loss throughout the Commonwealth, not to mention jeopardize small businesses.

 That being said, I do believe we can and should work to modernize the liquor industry here in the Commonwealth. I am one of many bipartisan co-sponsors on SB 800 which includes a beer reform package, permits direct shipment of wine, and focuses on customer convenience.

 It is expected that Senator Chuck McIlhinney (R – Bucks) will introduce his version of a liquor plan early next week to be debated and put up for a vote.

These next 17 days are crucial to the future of Pennsylvania. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, long hours, debate and compromise, but I am hopeful we will come out of this with a spending plan that moves Pennsylvania forward.

 Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to a 2013-2014 Pennsylvania budget.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (814) 453-2515.

– John Guerriero

Barry Grossman/contributed photo

Grossman, who lost the Democratic nomination to Kathy Dahlkemper in the May 21 primary, said today that he is not mounting a write-in campaign.

“A couple of people approached me and I told them I wasn’t interested,” he said.

He said they were people who supported his candidacy.

Forget about Grossman trying to switch parties and run as an Independent or third-party candidate.

Pennsylvania has what’s called a “sore loser” law that prevents a loser in the primary from switching parties and running in the general election.

By the way, Independents and third-party candidates have until Aug. 1 to file their nomination petitions.

Dahlkemper, the former congresswoman, will face Republican businessman Don Tucci in the election.

– John Guerriero

Election office supervisor  Sharon Drayer, 57, has retired after serving for 30 years -  20 full time and 10 part time.

Sharon Drayer/File photo

The new supervisor is Kim DeLand, who had been legislative assistant for former state Rep. John Hornaman, of Millcreek, from March 2007 through November 2012.

DeLand has worked in the office since March 7, when she began as election coordinator during the transition period.

The office is taking a hit in experience. Besides Drayer’s departure, longtime election worker Judy Czarkowski retired June 7.

But DeLand said she is up for the challenge of leading the office, with help from the staff.

“They do a lot of hard work … to make it go smoothly,” DeLand said.

The office includes two full-time staffers, senior election clerk Patty Messenger and election clerk Tonia Wilt. Czarkowski’s job will be filled, too, she said.

– John Guerriero

Bizzarro’s office forwarded the following commentary to us recently.  Here it is… and as always, feel free to share your thoughts.

–Kevin Flowers

It still has miles to go and less than a few weeks to get there, but Pennsylvania’s 2013-14 state budget process is kicking into high gear. And, from a new legislator’s perspective, I see this budget as more of the same false choices and wrong priorities that we’ve seen over the last two years.

We can do better. Pennsylvanians deserve better. 

Since Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his spending plan four months ago, various stakeholders have raised important concerns. House Republicans were the latest to take a whack at it, putting out their version of a budget blueprint.

However, even House Republicans know their version is an improvised prototype about to undergo a major overhaul in the Senate shop.

House Republicans did propose adding $10 million to the $90 million increase in basic education funding proposed by the governor. However, the funding boost would do little to stop the major attack on public education, which has suffered from nearly $1 billion in cuts since the governor took office.

Roughly 70 percent of Pennsylvania’s public school districts have been forced to raise property taxes while cutting programs and tens of thousands of teachers and support staff as state support for education has decreased from 44 percent to 32 percent under the current administration.

House Democrats proposed restoring the governor’s cuts to basic education, accountability block grants, charter school reimbursements and other educational programs over the next three years. Unfortunately, the amendment failed along party lines.

Meanwhile, the budget keeps changing. At last look, it appeared that structural changes to the state’s public pension plans were off the table.

Still apparently in the mix are increased funding for transportation infrastructure and selling Pennsylvania’s liquor system. The Senate is pushing hard on transportation. The majority party in the House seemingly wants to link action on transportation funding with Senate acceptance of something close to what the House passed – reluctantly – on liquor privatization.

It could get messy.

However, what struck me most in the spending proposals from both the governor and House Republicans was the lack of attention to job creation and retention. One would think that Pennsylvania’s dismal job-creation efforts – 49^th out of 50 states, according to one study – and too-high unemployment numbers would spark more interest.

At news conferences and functions in Harrisburg, I pressed the point that an opportunity exists to address job concerns. Based on the latest revenue projections for May, Pennsylvania can make a serious, substantial effort on jobs – in the $100 million to $125 million range – without any increases in broad-based taxes and even without exceeding the spending levels proposed by the governor in February.

I repeatedly stressed that northwestern Pennsylvania is bracing for the potential loss of roughly 1,000 jobs at the General Electric plant in Lawrence Park. If these jobs go, the rest of Pennsylvania will face a negative economic impact that will be too much to endure.

I applaud any efforts, including those by the Corbett administration,to attract new companies to the commonwealth. However, we need to ensure we’re fighting just as hard to retain the good, family-sustaining jobs that we currently have in Pennsylvania.

We must to do better and make Pennsylvania an employment powerhouse, where new jobs are created and the industries that have been the lifelines of our communities have the opportunity to grow and thrive.

We can do this, and we need to do this—and it starts with this state budget.