Protesters: Deep Education Cuts Put Future of PA Public Schools at Stake

Public News Service-PA
http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/26546-1

(05/21/12) PHILADELPHIA - Saying the future of public schools in Pennsylvania is at stake, thousands of protesters are expected in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Allentown this week, railing against education cuts proposed by Governor Tom Corbett.

Recently, the Philadelphia school system announced it would close 40 schools next year and expects to lose 40 percent of its current enrollment in the next five years.

Gabe Morgan is Pennsylvania State Director for 32BJ SEIU, which represents school employees ranging from aides to bus drivers to maintenance workers. He says they chose Philadelphia for the rally over concerns that what's happening there could become commonplace in the Commonwealth.

"In Philadelphia, what we're seeing is really the first attempt to privatize a major public school system, and turn it into essentially a pass-through for money that would then go to some affiliated collection of charter schools."

Morgan says he also has major concerns about legislation making its way through Harrisburg that would place distressed schools under state control. He says there, too, Philadelphia schools serve as an example.

"Philadelphia has been under state control for the past ten years, and that's how it's gotten to the situation that it's in."

Morgan says while Governor Corbett claims the state doesn't have enough money to write bigger checks for public schools, he's turning his back on a potential revenue source that could bring in billions of dollars to the state.

"In Pennsylvania, our governor and Legislature have chosen not to significantly tax the world's largest natural gas supply. Instead they'd rather balance the budget by dismantling the public school system."

Governor Corbett has defended the cuts, saying they reflect money the state doesn't have. Morgan says not only do kids suffer when education budgets are slashed, but so do school employees who end up pink-slipped because their positions can no longer be funded.

Pittsburgh Opera Director of Development: Rescind the Tom and Susan Corbett Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tom Corbett has slashed the budget for education and the arts since taking office while simultaneously making  corporate tax cuts of $800 million .

Pittsburgh Opera's press release on the award, however, states "Governor Corbett will be honored for his early work as a teacher as well as his long-standing protection of the public interest as Pennsylvania Attorney General. Additionally, as Governor, he has recognized the economic, educational, and social value of the arts. Mrs. Corbett has been an accomplished producer and presenter of arts programs through the years, and, as First Lady, has championed greater participation in the arts in her role as Chair of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts."

Pittsburgh Opera officials may not be aware that Corbett's first two budgets were extremely damaging to the arts and education in Pennsylvania, cutting funding to the arts 10%, 10% to basic education funding, and funding to higher education 45% since taking office.

It is a slap in the face to all who appreciate the vital role the arts and education play in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in the Pittsburgh region. Pittsburgh Opera's recognition of the Governor's destructive actions is embarrassing to the Pittsburgh community.

Sign the change.org petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/pittsburgh-opera-director-of-development-rescind-the-tom-and-susan-corbett-lifetime-achievement-award

PSEA President: block grant plan will shortchange students and schools

(HARRISBURG, April 30, 2012) – Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to fund Pennsylvania’s public schools with “block grants” will shortchange students, let political deals drive state funding, and force local school districts and communities to solve the $1 billion crisis that state funding cuts have caused, according to the president of Pennsylvania’s largest school employee union.

Michael Crossey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, warned that block grants will end up shortchanging school districts, since block grants would erase the laws and formulas that account for schools’ real costs and students’ real needs. Instead, block grants would base state funding on arbitrary numbers and political backroom deals. 

“The governor’s plan to ‘block grant’ public school funding is just another way to pass the buck on the school funding crisis,” Crossey said.  “It’s a dramatic reversal, a 180-degree turn away from a fair and predictable system. Instead of solving the crisis in our schools, these block grants will make it worse.”

Gov. Corbett’s block grant proposal would create a single line item in the FY 2012-13 state budget by lumping together line items for employee Social Security payments, school busing, non-public school busing, and classroom instruction. Social Security payments are mandated, and busing is necessary to keep students safe and attending school regularly.

Most significantly, the governor’s proposal, if approved by the General Assembly, would set the stage for political backroom deals on how much to give public schools in future state budgets, Crossey said. State funding for classroom instruction was cut by $860 million in the FY 2011-12 budget. 

“The governor’s block grant proposal would combine four programs that work into one that doesn’t,” Crossey added. “It’s another part of the shell game he is playing with his budget. Fair and equitable funding will go out the window, and political deals will decide how much we invest in our students.”

Combining these payments makes it appear as though the Corbett administration has increased school funding, even though the governor’s budget proposal contains another $100 million in state funding cuts.

"The governor claims his plan gives schools more flexibility, but all it offers is the flexibility to make even more cuts that harm students,” Crossey said.

 Crossey pointed out that the need to restore state funding cuts to the public schools is urgent. “Sounding The Alarm,” a PSEA research report, shows that a combination of nearly $1 billion in cuts and a toxic mixture of bad state education laws is forcing dramatic cuts to student programs and pushing a growing number of school districts to the financial brink.

Learn more at www.psea.org/soundingthealarm.

“The school funding crisis is real, and it’s hurting Pennsylvania’s students every day,” Crossey said. “Shell games and accounting tricks won’t solve it. We need to fund the schools, stop these cuts, and invest in Pennsylvania’s students.”

Crossey is a special education teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District. An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents approximately 187,000 future, active and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.

Disability rights group puts Coomonwealth on notice about Voter Registration Act violations

The Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania (DRN) has put the Pennsylvania Department of State on notice that it is in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (see entire letter below), especially in terms of complying with the rights of persons with disabilities.


The Commonwealth has a poor record of complying with the NVRA.  This appears to be one more component of a system which tries to limit voter eligibility, either by design or neglect.

===============

February 22, 2012

BY FAX AND FIRST CLASS MAIL

Carol Aichele

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Pennsylvania Department of State

302 North Office Building

401 North Street

Harrisburg, PA  17120-0500

Fax:  717-787-1734

Re: Notice of Non-Compliance with Section 7 of the

National Voter Registration Act

Dear Secretary Aichele:

On behalf of the Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania (DRN), the organization designated by the Commonwealth under federal law to protect the rights of and advocate for people with disabilities, I am submitting this notice pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-9(b)(1) to advise the Department of State (DOS) that it is in violation of Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).  As detailed below, DOS has violated the NVRA by failing to:  (1) designate as mandatory voter registration agencies (VRAs) all disability services offices in the Commonwealth, and (2) assure that disability services offices that are designated as VRAs fully comply with the requirements of the NVRA.

Section 7 of the NVRA requires, inter alia, that Pennsylvania designate as mandatory VRAs "all offices in the State that provide State-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities."  42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-5(2)(B).  As VRAs, disability services offices must:  (1) distribute voter registration forms; (2) assist applicants to complete those forms; and (3) accept completed forms and forward them to the appropriate election official.  42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-5(a)(4)(A).  These services must be provided in the person's home if the VRA provides disability services in the person's home.  42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-5(a)(4)(B).  Voter registration applications must be offered with each application for assistance, each recertification or renewal, and each change of address unless the individual declines the opportunity to register in writing.  42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-5(a)(6)(A)(i).  Finally, disability services offices must provide individuals who want to register to vote with the same assistance to complete the application as those offices provide to complete their own forms, unless the applicant refuses assistance.  42 U.S.C. § 1973gg-5(a)(6)(C).

A. Pennsylvania's Failure to Designate All Disability

Services Offices as Mandatory VRAs.

Many disability services offices (i.e., agencies that primarily provide services to people with disabilities that are funded by the Commonwealth) are not considered by DOS to be mandatory VRAs and, therefore, do not engage in any of the voter registration activities required by Section 7 of the NVRA.  Pennsylvania's Department of Public Welfare (DPW), the state agency that funds most services for people with disabilities, does not provide disability services directly other than through a few state-operated institutions.  Instead, DPW or its subcontractors pay private agencies to provide almost all disability services.  For instance:

§     DPW provides state funds to county MH/ID programs to provide com­munity services to people with mental illness and intellectual disabilities.  The counties, in turn, pass on much of those funds to private entities to provide a range of disability services.  Many of these private entities not only provide services, but also assist their clients to apply for services and to pursue recertification and renewal. It is our understanding that these private entities do not offer service recipients voter registration opportunities.

§     DPW contracts with a private entity, MAXIMUS, to take applications for five Medical Assistance-funded home and community based waivers.  MAXIMUS assists the individuals with those applications, including submitting the necessary paperwork to the County Assistance Offices for financial eligibility determinations.  It is our understanding that MAXIMUS does not offer applicants voter registration opportunities.

§     DPW contracts with many private agencies to provide Supports Coordination and direct care services to people who receive services under the Medical Assistance Waivers and Act 150 program administered by the Office of Long Term Living.  With the exceptions of the Centers for Independent Living, it is our understanding that these private agencies do not offer service recipients voter registration opportunities.

Any dispute that these DPW-funded disability services offices do not comply with the NVRA has been laid to rest by DPW.  In response to a request submitted pursuant to the Right to Know Law, DPW confirmed that its contracts with private agencies do not include "any provision that commits the contractor to be a VRA."

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) recently filed a lawsuit against Rhode Island, alleging that it violated Section 7 of the NVRA.  In a Consent Decree to resolve that lawsuit, Rhode Island agreed that all offices that provide state-funded disability services, "including those operated by private entities on the state's behalf, ... must be designated as ‘voter registration agencies.’"  United States v. Rhode Island, Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-00113-S, Consent Decree at 5 (D.R.I. Mar. 18, 2011), available at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/vot/nvra/ri_nvra_cd.pdf.  The Consent Decree required Rhode Island's Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals to amend its contracts with private entities who are engaged in providing services to people with disabilities "to ensure that they provide voter registration opportunities as required by Section 7 of the NVRA."  Id. at 11-12.

Pennsylvania cannot avoid its obligations under the NVRA simply because the responsibility to provide state-funded disability services is delegated to local or even private entities.  See United States v. New York, 700 F. Supp. 2d 186, 205 (N.D.N.Y. 2010).  Pennsylvania must assure that local and private entities that provide state-funded disability services implement the voter registration requirements mandated by Section 7 of the NVRA.

B. Pennsylvania's Failure to Assure that Disability Services

Offices Identified as VRAs Comply with their Obligations

Aside from Pennsylvania's failure to designate all disability services offices as mandatory VRAs, Pennsylvania has also failed to assure that disability services offices that are designated as VRAs comply with the requirements of Section 7 of the NVRA.

In Fiscal Year 2010-11, there were 534,000 persons receiving mental health services (including nearly 124,500 using community mental health funds and nearly 380,400 using Medical Assistance funds) and nearly 51,000 persons receiving services for intellectual disabilities or autism.  Governor's Executive Budget 2011-12 at E35.4335.44.  Most of these individuals must have their re-eligibility certified annually.  Yet, DOS's Report to the General Assembly on Voter Registration indicates that fewer than 45,000 individuals were offered voter preference forms by the County MH/MR Programs.  DOS, 2010 Administration of Voter Registration in Pennsylvania: Report to the General Assembly App. G (June 2011).  Plainly, there are a large number of DPW clients who have disabilities who are not offered voter registration opportunities in accordance with the NVRA. The data raise additional questions about compliance.  DOS's 2010 Report shows that about 40,500 of the approximately 45,000 persons offered voter registration by County MH/MR Programs declined the offers.  The same report indicates that 22,350 of the 25,000 persons offered voter registration by "Disability Agencies" declined the offers.  This would suggest that County MH/MR Offices and the Disability Agencies registered more than 7,000 voters in 2010.  DOS's Voter Registration by County breakdown, however, shows that only 670 individuals were registered by the County MH/MR Programs and Disability Agencies.

Disability services offices that receive funds from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) also appear not to comply with the NVRA.  PDE funds local school districts to provide education and other services to students with disabilities.  PDE's Basic Education Circulars (BECs) indicate that schools should discuss voter registration with students with disabilities who have an Individualized Program Plan (IEP) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or service agreements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and 22 Pa. Code Ch. 15.  The BECs, however, allow parents to decide whether to include voter registration as part of the students' IEPs or service agreements.  Moreover, the BECs do not require school districts to have students or parents sign declinations forms or otherwise track whether registration was offered unless the students agree to have voter registration included in their IEPs and service agreements.  Not surprising, the evidence suggests that few students with disabilities are offered voter registration opportunities.  In 2009, only 22 special education students registered to vote according to DOS data.

C. DRN's Request to Remedy These Violations

In requiring state-funded disability services offices to act as VRAs, Congress recognized that people with disabilities are underrepresented among voters.  Since these individuals frequently are poor and lack access to many of the mainstream opportunities for voter registration (such as driver registration), Congress required those agencies with frequent, one-to-one contact with individuals with disabilities to offer them the opportunity to register to vote.

For the past several years, DRN and other advocacy groups have advocated that DOS take the steps necessary to remedy the violations described in this letter.  Despite meeting after meeting, our advocacy efforts have yielded no concrete action.  In the absence of any remedy from DOS, DRN has spent a great deal of time, efforts, and resources to educate Pennsylvanians with disabilities, their families, and advocates about their right to register to vote and to encourage them to exercise that right.

Our efforts to educate people with disabilities about voter registration are not a substitute for enforcement of the NVRA.  Accordingly, DRN requests that DOS develop a comprehensive plan to remedy Pennsylvania's non-compliance with the NVRA.  We are willing to work with you to develop such a plan.  If DOS is unwilling to do so, DRN will consider our other alternatives available under the NVRA.

Sincerely,

Carol Horowitz

Managing Attorney

Education Voters Statement on Proposed Education Budget

HARRISBURG,PA (February 7, 2012) – Today, the Governor  outlined his funding priorities in his 2012-2013 budget speech.  In this proposal, the Governor continues to reduce funding to public education.  For basic education, Corbett carries forward last year’s drastic $900 million cut and then  proposes combining four separate lines items into a single line.  Unfortunately the total funding of what these four items would have added up to if they were not combined means basic education will receive an additional cut, a cut local school districts cannot handle.  In addition, PASSHE schools will receive a 20% cut, state-related schools will receive a 30% cut and Pre-K Counts and Head Start will each get a 5% cut.


“There was one right thing to do for public education in this year’s budget and that was to restore the funds that were cut from our students and our communities last year and it didn’t happen.  They said we were forced to make cuts last year because of tough times – if that were true, we would be getting back on track with both the funding formula and funding levels this year.  The cuts to early education are disturbing and the cuts to higher education are shocking. This is ideological. I really have to question a Governor’s priorities if he isn’t willing to take care of children and provide an opportunity for them to learn, as well as think long term and help prepare our workforce for tomorrow, “ said Susan Gobreski, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania.


Last year, the Governor proposed and passed a historic cut to education funding of about $900 million dollars, which is carried forward in this year’s budget.  Class size went up in almost every community, and important programs that affect student achievement were cut, like Kindergarten, early education, arts, science, and technology.  Pennsylvania had been showing steady gains in academic achievement, and the districts that had been historically the most underfunded showed the greatest gains, demonstrating the impact of targeted increases and investments in programs that produce outcomes.  Gobreski said, “That is the funny thing about education, it’s really as simple as giving our students a quality opportunity – when we provide it, they learn.”


Legislators from both parties, as well as community, business and civic leaders, have been calling for the state budget to restore funding or, at minimum, stop cutting the support for education.  Many legislators are scrambling to position themselves as a friend of public education, given the trend. With state cuts being so drastic, many communities have been forced to cut programs, increase class sizes or raise local taxes, the worst way to fund education.  For the last couple of decades, communities have had to take care of what the state has sloughed off, which is a neat political trick for state elected officials, but communities are tired of having their local economies being played.


The Governor’s political spin has been that this is the fault of the temporary stimulus money, but in reality, the stimulus money was supposed to be used to help prevent harmful state cuts during the worst of the downturn– they paid our bills and: “After that money was gone, the Commonwealth was supposed to resume their role in properly funding the state basic education formula.”  Gobreski said, “The political tricks and fuzzy math abound: they reduce overall spending, combined several line items into one and called it an increase, knowing that the average person isn’t going to read the line by line version of the budget. It would be like doing this to your kids; last week your allowance was $10, plus I gave you $8 for lunch money and then $2 for your scout dues.  But from now on, instead, I am going to give you $15 in allowance (total) as your money for the week.  There, I increased your allowance.  Aren’t you happy?”


Education Voters is a non-partisan non-profit advocacy organization that works with parents and community leaders throughout the Commonwealth, engaging voters in advocating for strong public education policy.

Even the right wing is now accusing Corbett of inaction in Sandusky case

http://www.newsmax.com/Freind/Corbett-Penn-State-Case/2011/12/19/id/421500

Did Corbett slow-walk the Sandusky prosecution?

Finally, someone in the mainstream press is raising questions about Corbett protecting Sandusky for over three years. http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2011/12/20/tom-corbetts-jerry-sandusky-problem/

Education Voters Video Project

Gov. Corbett and the state legislature recently passed a budget containing nearly $1 BILLION in cuts to our public schools! This is already having a negative impact on students and communities throughout the state. We need to tell our (or the) story of how these cuts are hurting our communities and why publiceducation is so critical to the success of the entire state.

Education Voters Institute of Pennsylvania (EVI) is conducting a video project to highlight both the impact of cuts to critical programs that serve kids, and the importance of education to our communities and our economy. Tell us about how a program has affected you, or what the schools are like in your community, or who was the first person in your family to go to college. It can be a video short, or just a personal story told directed into the camera. Across Pennsylvania, students, parents, community leaders are speaking up about how we are affected by these choices.

What happened with this year’s budget was a travesty, and it didn’t need to happen. If we’re going to overcome the same obstacles next year we need make our voices heard and start laying the groundwork for change NOW!

CLICK HERE for full details: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/video-contest/

Deadline October 30th

Poll Shows PA Doesn't Want Vouchers or Corbett's Education Cuts

PUBLIC OPINION POLL FINDS WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR PROVEN SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES, OPPOSITION TO STATE FUNDING CUTS FOR PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS

HARRISBURG (Oct. 5, 2011) – By a wide margin, Pennsylvanians oppose recent state funding cuts to public education and support investments in programs that work, according to a new public opinion poll.

Pennsylvanians strongly support investing in tutoring students, reducing class sizes and making schools safer. By a similarly wide margin, Pennsylvanians oppose creating a taxpayer-funded voucher system for private and religious schools.

Those are the findings of the latest Terry Madonna Opinion Research survey, released today by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA). The results are available today on PSEA’s website, www.psea.org.

“By a nearly two-to-one margin, Pennsylvanians oppose the recent funding cuts to the Commonwealth’s public schools,” said PSEA President Michael J. Crossey. “They overwhelmingly support recommendations in Solutions That Work, PSEA’s blueprint for education reform. And it is clear they don’t support tuition vouchers.”

The Madonna poll asked Pennsylvanians for their views regarding the $860 million cut from public schools as part of the state budget Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law last June. Sixty-nine percent said they oppose or strongly oppose these cuts, while only 27 percent said they favor or strongly favor the action.

The Madonna poll then asked survey respondents to give their opinion on how state funds for education should be used if the cuts were restored.

The respondents favored or strongly favored “more individualized student attention and tutoring” (89 percent),reduced class sizes (88 percent), and “programs to help make schools safer” (85 percent). They also favored: alternative placement for disruptive/violent students (85 percent); “pre- and full-day kindergarten” (73 percent); and “programs to coordinate school, community and law enforcement programs”(79 percent).At the same time, the poll results establish Pennsylvanians oppose “a voucher plan to send students to private, religious and parochial schools.” Fifty-nine percent said they were “strongly opposed or somewhat opposed” to vouchers, while only 38 percent were in favor of such plans.

The programs supported by the respondents, tutoring, smaller classes, safe school and alternative student placement pre- and full-day kindergarten, and coordinated school/community strategies are all included in PSEA’s school reform agenda, “Solutions That Work.” Read more about “Solutions That Work” at www.solutionsthatwork.org.

Crossey said, “These findings show the public backs common-sense, research-based strategies to improve education, and providing schools with adequate, equitable resources.”

A report released last month from two groups representing school administrators and business managers detailed how state funding cuts to Pennsylvania’s public schools have resulted in larger classes, reduced course offerings and tutoring opportunities, as the school year began this fall.

“The Madonna poll is yet the latest indication that Pennsylvanians believe the governor and state lawmakers need to change direction when it comes to education priorities,” said Crossey.

The poll presents the findings of a survey of 801 Pennsylvania adults designed by Terry Madonna Opinion Research and conducted September 2011. The sample error for the total sample is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Crossey is a special education teacher in the Keystone Oaks School District. A state affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents approximately 193,000 future, active and retired teachers and school employees, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.

Today's News Clips, July 11, 2011

News Clips from America Votes

Monday, July 11, 2011

News Clips

COLORADO: Public to testify on proposed Colo. Districts

The Associated Press

A Colorado panel working on the once-a-decade process of redrawing state House and Senate districts to account for population changes will be hearing public testimony.

The panel will hear from residents in several metro-area counties Monday. Those counties are Denver, Adams, Boulder, Jefferson, Arapahoe and Broomfield.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_18454106#ixzz1RnblFHbj

FLORIDA: Medicaid fraud probe focuses on state lawmaker

Michael Sallah, Rob Barry, and Carol Marbin Miller for the Miami Herald

Months after Florida lawmaker Daphne Campbell promised to crack down on Medicaid fraud, state agents are now carrying out her pledge by focusing on an unexpected target: Campbell’s own health-care business.

The state attorney general’s office is tracing hundreds of thousands in payments by the state to group home companies that were run by Campbell and her husband, according to sources close to the investigation.

Investigators have gathered dozens of financial records from former owners whose facilities were managed by the couple to determine if the money was properly spent over the past four years.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/01/2295854/medicaid-fraud-probe-focuses-on.html#ixzz1Rnc1b3K4

MICHIGAN: Michigan's redrawn congressional districts take twists and turns

Marisa Schultz for the Detroit News

Detroit is a metropolis that's mostly black, poor, undereducated and a Democratic stronghold.

So what does it have in common with Sylvan Lake, a lakeside Oakland County community of about 1,600 mostly higher-income whites who have college degrees and consistently vote for the GOP candidate for Congress?

Both will be in the unusual "S"-shaped 14th Congressional District that is part of new congressional district maps redrawn by the GOP. The Legislature approved the maps and Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to approve them.

Read more: http://detnews.com/article/20110711/POLITICS02/107110333/Michigan-s-redrawn-congressional-districts-take-twists-and-turns#ixzz1RncElkCd

MINNESOTA: Schools face shutdown hassles

Norman Draper for the Star Tribune

The state government shutdown is creating a swarm of minor problems for Minnesota schools.

Summer make-up dates for tests required for graduation might be postponed. Approval for funding grants has been held up, and licenses needed to get some teachers into the classroom are on hold. And the Minnesota Department of Education -- used by districts as a resource for financial, health and safety, and other school data -- is largely closed.

Thanks to a judge's ruling, most state funding for schools will continue, so the bulk of services, including summer school programs, will go on as usual. Furthermore, school districts had already been making contingency plans to maintain the status quo, either by using reserves or borrowing.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/125317573.html

NEVADA: Democrats may have too many candidates for their own good

David McGrath Schwartz for the Las Vegas Sun

Sen. Harry Reid’s Democratic Party has done a remarkable job preventing contentious primaries over the past few elections. The reasoning: Infighting requires campaign spending on something other than defeating Republicans and leaves internal rifts.

So the congressional campaign outlook for 2012 presents an interesting math problem: For the three seats in Southern Nevada, there are five current or former elected Democrats expressing strong interest in running.

Noting that in 2012 the president will be up for re-election and there will be a U.S. Senate race to worry about, that scenario causes some party observers to worry.

Read more: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/10/political-memo-democrats-may-have-too-many-candida/

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Unexpected special election win has NH Republicans wondering

Kevin Landrigan for the Nashua Telegraph

The New Hampshire House special election on Tuesday was another embarrassing defeat for establishment Republicans.

Seabrook firefighter Kevin Janvrin won the five-way GOP primary over favored Hampton Falls businessman Lou Gargiulo by 118 votes.

A caravan of heavy hitters got behind Gargiulo, including former GOP State Chairman John H. Sununu and Executive Councilor Chris Sununu, 2010 gubernatorial nominee John Stephen and former Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne.

Read more: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/newsstatenewengland/925505-227/unexpected-special-election-win-has-nh-republicans.html

OHIO: GOP to run commercials in Ohio hitting Obama on the economy: video

Stephen Koff for the Plain Dealer

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Republican voters haven't picked a presidential nominee, but it's not too early to know what the campaign theme is likely to be. And the likely battleground states are fairly clear.

So get ready, Ohioans, because you'll see a commercial over the next four weeks that hits President Barack Obama hard on the economy. It has lots of numbers -- on job losses, unemployment, taxes, the national debt, and the cost of the stimulus and health care bills.

Visually, you'll see a train derailment, a speeding roller coaster, a car in flames (and another flying off the road into the water), a race car wreck and, as the announcer says, "left turn after left turn."

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/07/gop_to_run_commercials_in_ohio.html

PENNSYLVANIA: Nonunionized Pennsylvania government workers upset over paycheck imbalances

Jan Murphy for the Harrisburg Patriot-News

The paychecks of 13,600 nonunion and management state employees have remained virtually frozen since shortly after the recession began.

Meanwhile, gas prices have gone up. Utility bills have risen. Groceries cost more.

The workers had hoped that Gov. Tom Corbett would give them a raise to help with their out-of-kilter household budgets.

But they watched as some of the union workers whom they supervise received pay raises and made more money than they do.

Read More: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/07/nonunionized_pennsylvania_gove.html

WISCONSIN: Was senator threatened on budget vote?

Daniel Bice for the Journal Sentinel

Aprominent business leader from state Sen. Rob Cowles' district was stunned when the veteran lawmaker explained why he voted in favor of Gov. Scott Walker's controversial budget-repair plan.

Cowles had contacted the business leader earlier this year to ask for the person's support in his upcoming recall election.

"He said, 'I didn't like this (bill) either. I didn't like being put in this position. I didn't like anything about the way it was done,' " the business leader quoted Cowles as saying. " 'But the governor's office told us if we didn't give them our support, they would run a tea party candidate against us.' "

Read More: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/125323448.html

WISCONSIN: Hansen race takes odd twist

Lee Bergquist for the Journal Sentinel

The recall election that most people had expected in northeastern Wisconsin was a battle between a pair of legislative veterans - incumbent Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette.)

But Nygren failed to obtain 400 valid signatures on his nomination papers, and now David VanderLeest, a Republican activist who spearheaded the recall effort against Hansen, is running against the incumbent in the July 19 special election. Elsewhere in the state, there are two Republican primaries that day.

The election will be the first of the state's nine recall races to decide a winner. Depending on the results, the outcome is likely to be interpreted as a barometer for other recall elections.

Read More: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/125318333.html

MONTANA: Family planning clinics operating with less government funding

Mike Dennison for the Billings Gazette

HELENA -- Family-planning clinics that serve thousands of low-income women in Montana are beginning this fiscal year with less government funding, in the wakes of cuts approved by the Montana Legislature and Congress.

"Every line item in our budget has taken a hit," said Stephanie McDowell, associate director of Bridgercare in Bozeman, the largest such clinic in the state. "We've cinched down our belt so much that we can't go any tighter."

The Republican-controlled Montana Legislature voted this spring to cut all state and federal funds for family planning clinics in Montana, totaling $5.7 million for the next two years. The new fiscal year began July 1.

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_9bac63f7-27dd-58ad-af37-6287f4c4c14a.html#ixzz1RngxE1Nx

IDAHO: Dan Popkey: Sen. McGee’s leadership post looks safe

Staff for the Idaho Statesman

Sen. John McGee’s guilty plea to misdemeanor DUI last week appears to have satisfied his GOP colleagues, most of whom appear content to keep him in leadership.

Among those backing McGee is Sen. Dean Mortimer of Idaho Falls, who lost the race for majority caucus chairman to McGee in December.

“Sen. McGee did an exceptionally good job as caucus chairman this year, better than I probably could have done,” Mortimer said. “I feel comfortable right now with where we’re at.”

Read more: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/07/09/1720402/mcgees-leadership-post-looks-safe.html#ixzz1Rnh7HlH8

WASHINGTON: Will anybody run against Maria Cantwell?

Staff for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Jim Brunner of The Seattle Times has a piece in the Sunday paper noting that, so far, the Republicans have yet to come up with a credible candidate to face Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell next year.

Chris Vance, the former state GOP Chariman, told Brunner “right now, it’s very much in doubt whether there is going to be a strong candidate.”

One name mentioned in Brunner’s piece is former broadcaster Susan Hutchison, who lost the 2009 King County Executive’s race to Dow Constantine.

Read More: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2011/07/10/will-anybody-run-against-maria-cantwell/

OREGON: Oregon education reform bills aim to create more flexible, individualized public schools

Bill Graves for the Oregonian

In the typical Oregon public school classroom, students of the same age work at achievement levels that often vary by two or three grades, sometimes more.

That didn't make sense to Mary Folberg. When she launched Northwest Academy, a private college preparatory school for grades 6-12 in downtown Portland, she grouped students the way she did as a dance instructor at Jefferson High, by proficiency rather than age.

That's the seismic shift Gov. John Kitzhaber wants to make in the state's public school system through a package of education bills passed by the Legislature last month.

Read More: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/07/oregon_education_reform_bills.html

FLORIDA: New ad from Rove-affiliated group targets Nelson

Virginia Chamblee for the Florida Independent

Another ad from Crossroads GPS, a conservative group affiliated with Karl Rove, has hit the Florida airwaves — this one directed at Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. The ad is part of a $20 million campaign launched by Crossroads, which includes attack ads in several states. The group spent $15 million on attack ads during the 2010 election cycle.

As previously reported by The Florida Independent, an independent expenditure PAC called Priorities USA Action fired back at Crossroads with its own set of ads, which aim to “inform voters about the source of the Rove ad and the truth about the Republican plan, a Rick Scott-style budget that would slash health care for seniors and cut education for the middle class while giving tax breaks to big oil and the wealthy.”

According to The Miami Herald, the new ad begins to run on Florida television stations today and will air for two weeks.

Read More: http://floridaindependent.com/38555/karl-rove-bill-nelson

MICHIGAN: Underfunded, crumbling Michigan roadways continue to decline

Sam Inglot for the Michigan Messenger

An annual report from a Michigan transportation council shows that Michigan’s crumbling roadways are likely to worsen in the coming years due to lack of funding from the state, with the state’s economy suffering as a result.

The Transportation Asset Management Council releases yearly reports on road conditions and their 2010 update showed Michigan has an underfunded and rapidly deteriorating road system.

According to the Council’s website:

“The Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) was established to expand the practice of asset management statewide to enhance the productivity of investing in Michigan’s roads and bridges. Part of the TAMC’s mission is to collect physical inventory and condition data on all roads and bridges in Michigan.”

Read More: http://michiganmessenger.com/50633/underfunded-crumbling-michigan-roadways-continue-to-decline

MINNESOTA: Shutdown Roundup: Legislators still getting paid despite lack of progress

Sam Lane for the Minnesota Independent

Here are some of the shutdown-related news items that made headlines this weekend:

• A total of 138 of the state’s legislators have continued to receive pay during the state government shutdown, the Star Tribune reported.

Before the shutdown began, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said he wouldn’t accept pay in the event of a shutdown. Soon after, 14 senators and 48 representatives said they’d also deny pay. That means 79 percent of the Senate and 65 percent of the House still are collecting paychecks in July, according to the Star Tribune.

• Rep. Matt Dean (R-Maplewood) wrote an open letter to Dayton, providing suggestions and solutions to the shutdown.

Dean said Dayton should abandon his calls for increased taxes. He urged the governor to call a special session and pass a “lights on” bill that would allow government functions to continue while a final bill is negotiated.

Read More: http://minnesotaindependent.com/84135/shutdown-roundup-legislators-still-getting-paid-despite-lack-of-progress

NATIONAL: Planned Parenthood rebuts claims it misleads women, calls AUL report ‘ideologically driven’

Sofia Resnick for the American Independent

As The American Independent previously reported, anti-abortion rights group Americans United for Life (AUL) released Thursday areport of allegations against Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), some of which date back several years. Accompanying the group’s findings is a call for Congress to begin a taxpayer-funded investigation on Planned Parenthood. AUL has accused Planned Parenthood of misusing federal funds; knowingly violating state and federal laws; and misleading women about abortion, fetal development and emergency contraceptive drugs.

On Friday, Planned Parenthood released a statement to media outlets responding to AUL’s “ideologically-driven publication.”

Read More: http://www.americanindependent.com/192490/planned-parenthood-rebuts-claims-it-misleads-women-calls-aul-report-ideologically-driven