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Pennsylvania

Privatization Update: Recent News from across the Country

Kayla Southworth on November 25, 2008 - 3:24pm

As states face mounting deficits, corporate lobbyists have been promoting the idea that privatization of public services and assets is a free lunch -- services can be delivered more cheaply than by public employees and public assets like highways can be sold or leased for a hefty return to the taxpayer.  As PSN has detailed in our December 2007 report Privatizing in the Dark: The Pitfalls of Privatization & Why Budget Disclosure is Needed, the promises of privatization too often yield to a reality of lost money and degraded services, weak oversight and lost expertise, assets sold off for short-term gains but long-term loss, lost democratic accountability, and the corruption of the political process.

Report: Stop Retailers Pocketing over $1 Billion in Sales Tax Revenue

PSN on November 25, 2008 - 1:30pm
According to a new study by Good Jobs First, state and local governments lost over $1billion in sales tax revenue last year as a result of laws that allow retailers to retain a percentage of the sales tax they collect.

Phil English loses seat; Murtha, Kanjorski hang on

Caroline Fan on November 13, 2008 - 12:48pm

In northeastern Pennsylvania, Kanjorski, a 12-term congressman, squeaked out a win against Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, a Republican mayor who became nationally prominent for his stand against illegal immigrants.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Kanjorski had 52 percent, and Barletta had 48 percent.

"We worked hard. We came up a little short in the end, but we ran a good campaign, a clean campaign, a campaign we can be proud of," Barletta said in his concession speech.

Barletta also lost to Kanjorski in 2002. He told reporters that it was too early to say whether he would mount a third challenge, but added that in a different year, the outcome might have been different. He said a strong showing for presidential winner Barack Obama contributed to Kanjorski's win.

Barletta pushed through a law in his community of 30,000 that sought to deny business permits to companies that employ illegal immigrants and fine landlords who rent to them. A federal judge struck down the ordinance as unconstitutional but his efforts were emulated in other towns around the country.