Mike's Memo

Welcome to a new year of "Mike's Memo," an update on what's happening in the 48th Legislative District, the State Capitol, and the progress on my "Promise to Pennsylvania," a pledge to advance government reforms, enact meaningful lawsuit abuse reform, eliminate wasteful state spending, and cut taxes. If you haven't done so already, please take a few moments to visit my website at www.senatorfolmer.com to learn more about issues that may affect you and your family.

Week of November 30, 2009

Senate Continues to Wait for House

The Senate continues to wait for the House to act on budget-related bills, including non-preferred (legislation providing state money to charitable and or educational institutions not under the control of the Commonwealth) appropriations (Senate Bills 1036 – 1040 and 1093 – 1108) and table games (Senate Bill 1033), which I opposed. Because of the House’s inaction, the Senate cancelled Session for this week (December 2 and 3).  The next scheduled Senate Session days are Tuesday, December 15 and Wednesday, December 16.  Hopefully, the House will act on the remaining bills when they are in Session next week (December 7, 8, and 9).

Senate Committee Hearings

Although the full Senate is not in Session, a number of Senate Committee meetings are scheduled:

Communications & Technology
10 a.m., Tuesday, December 1, Hearing Room #1 North Office Building - Auditor General Jack Wagner and Department of General Services Secretary James Creedon will appear to discuss and review the Auditor General’s report on state procurement contracts.

Education
9:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 8, Hearing Room #1 North Office Building - Review of the education "Costing Out Study." 

Environmental Resources & Energy Committee
11:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 15, Room 8E-B, East Wing - Hearing on the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources’ budget implementation and natural gas leasing.

For an up-to-date list of Senate Committee hearings, click here.

Military License Plates Now Available Through PennDOT

New military license plates are now available through PennDOT. The plates feature the standard Pennsylvania license plate colors of blue, white and yellow along with the applicable branch of service emblem or logo on the left side of the plate. Pennsylvania is printed at the top of the plate, with the name of the applicable branch of service at the bottom.

To obtain a plate, honorably discharged veterans must complete and mail Form MV-150, Application for U.S. Military Veteran Registration Plate, to PennDOT and include a certified copy of their DD-214, along with a $20 fee. For more information, visit www.dmv.state.pa.us.

For more information on these issues or other legislative and state topics, or if you are unable to open the bill links, visit the Pennsylvania General Assembly website at www.legis.state.pa.us. You may also want to visit "News for Constituents", a comprehensive look into various issues affecting Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth.

Please feel free to contact me at any time on state-related issues that are of concern to you. I may be reached through e-mail at mfolmer@pasen.gov, my website, or any one of my offices listed below.