Capitol Week in Review / The Caucus
On the Friday, April 7th edition of WITF’s Smart Talk:
It’s been a busy week in Harrisburg with the General Assembly dealing with several significant issues.
WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer appears on Friday’s Smart Talk to provide insight into the actions taken by lawmakers.
State House Republicans voted to advance a $31.5 billion budget earlier this week. The plan includes extensive spending cuts to offset a $3 billion deficit. There are no tax increases included and the plan is about $800 million less than what Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf asked for.
There’s been a lot of discussion over the past few years about how effective mandatory minimum sentences have been. Some have pointed to mandatory minimums and said they take a judge’s discretion away and have contributed to increasing the size of the prison population. This a bill to restore mandatory minimum sentencing was approved in the House.
Katie Meyer – WITF Capitol Bureau Chief
We’ll also discuss the proposed consolidation of several state agencies.
Also, there’s a new publication available in Pennsylvania with a focus on state government. The Caucus describes itself as a weekly print publication with investigative reporting and analysis at its core and aims to bring sunlight to state government. It is distributed to every member of the state legislature and the governor. The Caucus is published by Lancaster-based LNP Media Group, Inc.
The Caucus‘ Harrisburg Bureau Chief Brad Bumstead joins us on Smart Talk.
The Caucus’ Harrisburg Bureau Chief Brad Bumstead
emails
– Rep Mark Rozzi led a rally to support victims of sexual abuse. The retroactive part of the bill he proposes would allow my neighbor to name the man who violated her as a child. He lived in our town and is free to molest other little girls because the current laws protect him since it is too late to report him Please comment – Susan
