Northampton County is a member of the County Comm'rs Ass'n of Pennsylvania (CCAP). At their March 21 meeting, County Council voted unanimously to endorse CCAP's top eight priorities. They are listed below.
1) 911 Funding and reauthorization. - Current 911 funding revenues have failed to keep pace with the increasing costs of the system, which must support county future needs, including Next Gen 911. The current surcharge is $1.95, and that is set to expire in February 2026.
2) A mental health base funding increase. - Counties provide community-based mental health services/ These include community residential programs; family-based support; and outpatient care and crisis intervention,
3) County inmates with mental health issues. - According to an assessment done by NorCo's health provider at the jail, 72% either are or were suffering a mental illness. A whopping 23% suffer from sever mental illness with current and acute symptoms.
4) Increase state prevailing wage threshold from $25,000 (set in1961) to $250,000. - Yes, this would enable governments to use limited resources to provide the maximum level of services possible. But it would be at the expense of blue-collar workers, both union and nonunion. I am surprised Democrats on County Council voted for this, and either I'm missing something, or they failed to read this portion of the resolution.
5) Right-to-Know Law reforms. - During election season, that office actually conducts three elections - mail-in ballots, early voting, and traditional voting at the polls. They really have no time to respond to numerous requests during certain periods. Moreover, some individuals use the Right to Know Law vexatiously, making it impossible for smaller governments to do anything other than respond to multiple requests. Counties have seen an influx in large, complex record requests, as well as requests for records with the intent to burden and bog down the records request process, particularly around elections.
6) Vote-By-Mail Reforms. - Counties need to be able to start pre-canvassing MIBs before 7 am on election day. Moreover, the deadline to apply a mail-in ballot should end 15 days before an election to give officials more time to get ready. Finally, the law concerning drop boxes should be made clear.
7) Broadband access and development. - Expanding the infrastructure should enable more competition, which should bring prices down for seniors and those on fixed or low incomes.
8) Address the juvenile detention capacity crisis. - Unfortunately, Northampton County's Juvenile Justice Center is still understaffed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.