(Harrisburg) -- State regulators worry the growing popularity of so-called "crowd funding" could open up Pennsylvanians to excess risk and fraud. Crowd funding happens when large groups pool their money to invest in small businesses, arts projects, and other ventures. State Securities Commissioner Steve Irwin says new federal legislation makes crowd funding available to more people, and that worries him. "What's missing here is an investment advisor or a broker's advice to an investor on whether this type of investment is suitable to them based on what their investment objectives are and their ability to withstand the loss," he says. Irwin warns more than half of small businesses fail, and a great number of start ups don't become profitable. He says the new federal law keeps states from reviewing crowd funding offerings. The new crowd funding rules will not go into effect until the federal Securities and Exchange Commission signs off on regulations.

(Harrisburg) -- The commonwealth's overseer of Harrisburg's Act 47 fiscal plan isn't happy with some major players in the capital city's recovery process. The state Department of Community and Economic Development has one major message for Harrisburg's City Council and Controller: Do what the city's Act 47 plan tells you to do, or Commonwealth Court will make you. DCED has filed a so-called "notice of non-compliance" against the city, citing City Council's refusal to raise the earned income tax, among other things, as a violation of the court-ordered plan. But Councilman Brad Koplinski says he's not on board with the entire plan just yet. "It appears to sell assets before negotiating with creditors," he says. "Putting the cart before the horse in selling the assets before negotiating with creditors does not seem like the correct option for us." Koplinski says he's open to creating a county-wide sales tax or other measures that could help bring in revenue. The latest snag in Harrisburg's fiscal recovery process comes just as former city receiver David Unkovic appeared in Commonwealth Court to explain why he left his post so unexpectedly. Unkovic has said he felt "boxed in" by creditors overseeing the city's debt-riddled incinerator. He's also testified the state told him he'd be let go after a press conference in late March where he criticized many of the key players involved in the recovery. DCED Spokesman Steve Kratz says that's not true. "At no point in time did anyone from the administration say that he would be removed, nor was there any intention to remove him. We were as surprised as anyone else," Kratz says. He does concede that some of Unkovic's remarks were troubling. "Granted, there were some outbursts that he had had recently, in recent weeks, that were concerning, that we felt could be detrimental to the overall recovery process," Kratz says. He adds Governor Corbett and his administration had faith Unkovic could help turn Harrisburg's finances around up until the day he resigned. Now the Commonwealth Court has approved a new city receiver: retired Air Force Major General William Lynch. Attorney Neil Grover, with Debt Watch Harrisburg, says it's up to the court to see that Lynch doesn't become frustrated in his new position. "They shall make sure that the office of receiver and Mr. Lynch have the independence needed to do this job and the resources to do this job. That's not an insignificant thing." All parties involved say they ultimately want Harrisburg to emerge from the Act 47 plan as a financially stable city. But getting there may take some time.

More than half of the state’s school districts expect to scale back their offerings as schools grapple with low tax revenues and limited government funding, and new study shows.

The third annual school budget survey conducted by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators received responses from 281 of the commonwealth’s 500 school districts.  

Of the schools surveyed, 60 percent are increasing class sizes, 58 percent are offering fewer electives like arts, physical education, and advanced classes.  11 percent of respondents are reducing full-day kindergarten, and eight percent are eliminating it.  A majority of the surveyed districts said they’re planning to furlough employees and not fill empty positions next year.

Speakers from the two groups behind the report said Tuesday that unless state and federal education spending increases, there’s little relief in sight for school districts.

Jay Himes, executive director of PASBO, said the “fiscal deterioration” is severe.  School districts are suffering for a number of reasons, he explained: the poor economy has hampered local revenue sources, state and federal funding is down, and state-mandated pension costs are rising.

“48 percent of the respondents to the PASBO-PASA survey say their districts will be in fiscal distress in three years if state funding and local revenues do not improve,” said Himes. 

Despite recent claims from state lawmakers that schools should be spending down their savings to weather the storm without cutting instructional programs, speakers from PASBO and PASA cautioned against relying on savings to balance school district budgets.

More than 20 percent of the school districts participating in the survey said they had spent more than half of the uncommitted funds in their savings accounts in the last two years to cover costs.

Eric Eshbach, superintendent of the Upper Adams School District in Adams County, said it’s a bad idea for schools to do that repeatedly when rising pension costs loom on the horizon. 

“The contention is out there that it’s a rainy day and we need to use our rainy day fund,” said Eshbach.  “I would contend that it’s a rainy decade, and for most school districts, we have about three days worth of rainy day fund to get through that decade.  What do we do when it’s over?”

(Wayne) -- A new study on the state's life sciences industry is offering some recommendations to help grow business within the next decade. The study conducted by the Pennsylvania Life Science Leadership Advisory Council calls for private and public partnerships to help drum up investment in the industry. Chris Molineaux is the president of Pennsylvania Bio, a Delaware County-based bioscience company. He says 2,000 life sciences companies employ nearly 80,000 Pennsylvanians, but there's still room for improvement. "Pennsylvania also is home to global pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, contract research organizations, and really all the ingredients to make up probably the most robust life science ecosystem in the country and potentially in the world," he says. Molineaux says it's important to support new life science technologies, but it's also critical to reevaluate older practices. The report has been delivered to state lawmakers and Governor Corbett. The life sciences industry brings in more than $7 billion annually in the state.

A new manufacturing job training program designed to close the so-called “skills gap” will be short and affordable.  It may also be a model to use throughout the state. 

The state job training center, Pennsylvania Careerlink, of Lancaster County, is launching a new kind of class that’s two weeks long and combines several types of training. Enrollees will be able to learn basic math and reading skills, technical know-how, and workplace etiquette – communication skills.

$1.3 million: That’s the amount of money spent by the five biggest natural gas drilling groups and companies to lobby state government, Capitol Ideas reports today: "That tally dwarfed that of the state’s four leading environmental groups, who spent just $51,484 during an ill-fated push for a severance tax on the industry and tighter environmental standards, according to records filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State."  More after the jump.

(York) -- A pair of York County nonprofits are teaming up to provide affordable housing as well as budget, rental, and foreclosure counseling.  The Housing Alliance of York and the YMCA of York County's nonprofit Y Community Development Corporation are merging. Jessica Fieldhouse, with the YMCA of York County, says there's been a steady demand for help in recent years. "Housing in general is just becoming a lot more expensive, but conversely, individuals' incomes are not increasing as the housing expenses are increasing," she says. "So, more and more families and individuals are finding themselves in a position where they really need to rethink where they're getting their housing from." Fieldhouse says it makes sense to merge the two groups since many people have been visiting both to seek assistance with finding housing. She says the groups will share a common board, but no workers will lose their jobs in the transition. Anyone with questions about finding affordable housing in York can call (717) 854-1541, extension 115.

(Belmar, NJ) -- The U.S. Postal Service is going back on a plan to close some small central Pennsylvania post offices in an effort to cut costs. But the agency is still looking at other ways to save money at the facilities in several midstate counties, including Cumberland, Franklin, and Lancaster. Spokesman Ray Daiutolo says early retirement may be an option for some employees. "We have about 160,000 employees that are eligible to retire, so we'll use attrition, and some other mechanisms to try to move those impacted employees either into other locations or to incentivize them to retire," he says. Daiutolo says some offices would also operate on reduced hours, while others could merge or move to a business or large store, like Walmart. He adds many customers in rural areas were unhappy with the original proposal to close 3,700 offices nationwide. The two-year plan is expected to be complete in 2014, and could save the Postal Service $500 million annually at that time.

(Gettysburg) -- A new tourism report shows increased visitor spending in central Pennsylvania in 2010, despite a somewhat shaky economy and rising gas prices. Visitors spent, on average, eight percent more in 2010 in Adams, Cumberland, and York counties than they did the year before, and nearly nine percent more in Juniata and Mifflin counties. Carl Whitehill, spokesman for the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, says many Pennsylvanians are visiting tourist attractions close to home instead of going on more expensive vacations. He says the report highlights another interesting trend in many midstate counties, including Adams. "What kind of intrigued us was that the number of employees that are impacted by tourism went down, but the wages to those employees went up. So, that's an encouraging sign to us," he says. Whitehill says he expects the number of visitors in Adams County to climb this year and next summer, which marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. Tourism spending increased by more than nine percent overall in Pennsylvania in 2010. The industry is one of the top two sectors in the state.

Radio Smart Talk for Friday, May 11:

Times have changed.  It used to be that salary was the major factor when a prospective employee considered his or her compensation package.  Today, healthcare insurance and retirement benefits are in some cases just as important.

There are numerous choices employees have when it comes to benefits too but choices can result in confusion and questions.

On Friday's Radio Smart Talk, two actuaries from Conrad Siegel Actuaries | Employee Benefits and Investment Advisors will appear to answer your healthcare and retirement benefits questions.

Do you understand 401(k) plans and how your investments fit into your retirement?  How will the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or healthcare reform law affect you?

What questions do you have?  We'll get them answered on Friday's program.