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Next week the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference will be held Oct. 13-15 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. See you there!
The General Assembly was not in session this week. The House of Representatives will return to Harrisburg on Thursday, Oct. 13 for a non-voting session. The Senate will return on Monday, Oct. 17.
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Fall legislative session may bring charter, pension discussions
 The 2015-16 legislative session of the General Assembly ends on Nov. 30, with enough time to take action on various issues. The Senate and the House of Representatives have scheduled less than 10 days for voting session, with most of those in October. As PSBA reported earlier, the House Urban Affairs Committee pulled House Bill 1993 (Rep. Kampf, R-Chester), legislation that removes the rights of school districts to conduct appeals of under-assessed property. Thanks to your advocacy efforts, we believe there is not enough support to bring the bill up for consideration.
It is possible that a compromise plan for pension reform could be released and considered, although no details have been made available yet. PSBA will provide information if a plan is brought forth for consideration.
Another issue that may still have traction is charter school reform, and PSBA remains opposed to the charter expansion proposal under House Bill 530 (Rep. Reese, R-Westmoreland). The need for meaningful charter school reform is urgent, but House Bill 530 contains charter school expansion on every page under the guise of "reform." It enables the expansion of charter schools with less accountability and dilutes existing authorizer oversight. Recent Auditor General's reports have uncovered numerous egregious facts about some charter schools misusing their authority and freedoms under the law simply to profit at students' and taxpayers' expense. The bill is currently in the House Rules Committee and could pass within 48 hours after approval by this committee. Our action against this bill is critical!
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PSBA presents testimony on wage tax bills
 This week PSBA presented testimony to the House Finance Committee at a public hearing on legislation to allow municipalities to receive a share of wage taxes collected from non-residents who work in the city of Philadelphia. Representing the association was Stuart Knade, senior director of legal services, Mark B. Miller, president-elect, and Jason T. Confair, Esq., Kegel Kelin Almy & Lord.
Currently, the city of Philadelphia imposes a City Wage Tax on non-residents who work in Philadelphia. However, unlike the local taxes in surrounding jurisdictions, none of the non-resident's City Wage Tax is returned to the non-resident's home municipality or school district.
The three bills that were the subject of the hearing are:
• House Bill 2142 (Rep. Stephens, R-Montgomery) would require Philadelphia to reimburse non-resident's City Wage Tax to the employee's home taxing jurisdiction.
• House Bill 2256 (Petri, R-Bucks) would remove Philadelphia's power of pre-emption on local income taxes by applying tax collection practices that mirror those exercised by other taxing jurisdictions under the Local Tax Enabling Act.
• House Bill 2257 (Petri, R-Bucks) would remove Philadelphia's power of pre-emption on local income taxes by allowing individuals working in Philadelphia to pay their resident local tax and receive a credit against the Philadelphia non-resident wage tax.
PSBA's testimony notes that the bills take very different approaches to fixing problems caused, and explains the potential impact on school districts.
Click here to read PSBA's testimony.
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Important Information for Voting Delegates
IMPORTANT -- PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR VOTING DELEGATES HAVE THIS INFORMATION.
PSBA Delegate Assembly will be meeting next Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center to vote on proposed changes to the association's Bylaws and adopt the 2017 Legislative Platform. There are some important changes that are new for delegates this year. All registered voting delegates should have received a packet of information that includes 2017 proposed Bylaws changes, Delegate Assembly Handbook that contains the 2017 proposed Legislative Platform, and the Rules of Procedure. Please bring your packets to the meeting.
Key changes include:
- Registration will begin at noon and a boxed lunch will be provided to all registered delegates beginning at 12:30 p.m. The meeting will begin at 1:30 p.m. Delegates will be seated at tables in rounds rather than classroom-style rows.
- The voting process for the Legislative Platform has been revised and is explained in detail in the handbook that was mailed to delegates and also explained in a Special Report that was emailed on Monday, Oct. 3.
- Under the procedures, no items will be automatically held for discussion, but there will be an opportunity for you to request any platform item be held for separate discussion and vote.
- At the conclusion of voting on all individual items, the chairman will ask for a motion to approve the platform as amended, in its entirety.
- The Delegate Assembly will also be voting on five proposed changes to the PSBA Bylaws. Proposal 4 would change the frequency of the Platform Committee meetings and adoption of the platform to once every two years so that it is implemented concurrently with each two-year session of the General Assembly. The change would be effective immediately, and if adopted, the 2017 platform would become the 2017-18 platform. Click here to read the proposed amendments to the Bylaws.
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PASA-PSBA Conference Updates
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Check out these legislative workshop opportunities
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Thursday, Oct. 13
2:00 - 3:30 p.m. How to Work the Halls Like a Pro: Turning Your Legislative Update into Advocacy -- Hear from the Government Affairs team on the latest legislative action with an in-depth legislative update. Then, learn how to use your knowledge as a savvy public education advocate. PSBA's John Callahan will host a discussion with Rep. William Adolph (R-Delaware) and Rep. Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) on top education issues, future budgets, questions, and answers.
3:45 - 4:45 p.m. A Look Into the Legislature: Education Policy from the Perspective of Those Who Write It -- After gaining your legislative footing, this follow-up to the "How to work the halls like a pro" session will include a discussion hosted by PSBA's John Callahan with legislative staff Kelly Phenicie Esq., legal counsel and majority executive director of the Senate Education Committee, and Christopher Wakeley, minority executive director of the House Education Committee. They both have a long history of policy development, staff work and perspective on getting things done and will share their years of experience and perspective on top education issues.
Friday, Oct. 14
2:45 - 4:00 p.m. School District Audits -- Join an expert from the state Auditor General's Office for a look into school district audits. Learn the process and procedures and get your questions answered so your district can be prepared for a successful audit. School directors and school officials will be knowledgeable on auditing procedures and will learn in-depth details regarding current school district audits and new auditing procedures.
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