Employers in the construction industry who cut costs by misclassifying workers as independent contractors would face criminal penalties under a bill approved Monday by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

The Construction Industry Independent Contractor Act passed 122-76 despite opposition from lawmakers who argued that its penalties were too severe and that it would hurt the state’s economy.

“I can’t believe that we want to create an environment where we make Pennsylvania business people who try to legitimately follow the rules that aren’t real clear … criminals,” said Rep. Scott Boyd, R-Lancaster.>  read more »

The state House approved a bill extending the Keystone Opportunity Zone and Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone programs, but it covers only properties that are unoccupied or deteriorated.

The bill does not extend tax deferments for already-developed KOZ and KOEZ properties, which are set to expire at the end of 2011 and 2013 respectively.

The bill extends the programs for properties that were designated KOZ or KOEZ but were never developed. It also allows for new zone designations, provided the property is either vacant or blighted, and that development occurs within seven years. The duration for new zones would be 10 years.  read more »

From the DoS website, here are the winners in the contested races for US House and State Senate. The results for the State House are here, but of note is that Don Costa (D), D21, may or may not have won this seat. The vote looks too close to call and I expect a recount.

US Rep:

PA-03 – Kathy Dahlkemper (D)
PA-05 – Mark McCraken (D) – Glenn Thompson®
PA10 – Chris Hackett®
PA-18 – Steve O’Donnell (D)

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State Senate PA-1 Larry Farnese (D)
PA-13 Lloyd Smucker®
PA-15 Judy Hirsh (D)
PA-17 Lance Rogers®
PA-23 Gene Yaw®
PA-33 Richard Alloway II®
PA-39 Bompiani (D)  read more »

The state House Democrats’ campaign panel late last year paid off the campaign debt of former Rep. Mike Veon, who now makes his living lobbying the governor and Legislature.

The House Democratic Campaign Committee in November and December paid $40,683 to retire Veon’s campaign debt, according to Veon’s report filed recently with the state election bureau. Veon could not be reached Wednesday.  read more »

Just a quick note to mention that we got a press release tonight from Russ Diamond declaring his candidacy for State House in the 101st district. Here’s what he had to say:

“The people of Lebanon County deserve a representative in Harrisburg who
actually supports, obeys and defends our state constitution,” said Diamond.
“My candidacy is a natural extension of the PACleanSweep mission – replacing career politicians with energetic, effective leaders who can deliver change instead of just talking about it.”

We won’t hold our breath, but knowing Diamond, he’ll make the race interesting!

Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese has dropped a libel lawsuit against a newspaper over commentaries and caricatures concerning a $12.5 million fund he controls.

The Herald-Standard of Uniontown accused DeWeese of breaking a promise to account for how he spends the taxpayer-funded leadership account.

DeWeese, D-Greene, maintained that he promised the newspaper’s editorial board only to lobby for changes in the law that would require the records to be released.  read more »

State House members last night debated a radical change in the way public schools are funded in Pennsylvania — completely eliminating the $10 billion raised annually in school property taxes and replacing that, over four years, with a higher personal income tax rate and sales taxes on many professional services that aren’t now taxed.

Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks, was trying to amend House Bill 1600, a proposal by Rep. David Levdansky, D-Forward, that would make more modest reductions of several hundred dollars a year in school taxes for residential homeowners.  read more »

George Kenney was a 27-year-old bachelor back in 1985, when he started his career as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Kenney married Liz Tomlinson during that first term and began raising a family in Somerton. He’s enjoyed the public service, but wants to do something else. That’s why he is retiring at the end of the year.

“Six children later, now’s the time,” he said…

Democrat Brendan Boyle squared off against Kenney in 2004 and ’06 and was planning to challenge him again. He works for a consulting company, with most of the clients being private financial firms. He’s also a hearing master for the city, overseeing appeals of various code violations.  read more »