Local Leaders Decry Contractor Fraud; Endorse Mike Stack For Lt. Guv'

(From L to R: Kevin Lott, John Morganelli, Ken Kraft, Lisa Boscola, Mike Stack)

Pennsylvania has a strange-sounding law that most of you probably never hear called the "Construction Workplace Misclassification Act." The latest version, effective for the past three years, is designed to prevent unethical contractors from claiming that their employees are "independent contractors," or just letting them work "off the books". This deprives the government of tax revenue and hurts businesses who play by the rules. Most importantly, it hurts the worker, who is denied the protection of employment and labor laws. Though Governor Corbett pledged to abide by this law, enforcement has been nonexistent. That's the reason for a news conference in the Northampton County Courthouse lobby yesterday, featuring several officials and labor leaders. One of them,State Senator Mike Stack, would like to be the next Lieutenant Governor. He picked up some big endorsements.

Stack shares a laugh with Lisa Boscola 

One of these big endorsements came from Northampton County DA John Morganelli. He claimed that Governor Corbett has been "asleep at the wheel" while the law has been ignored. Another endorsement come from State Senator Lisa Boscola, who said that this lack of enforcement has created an "uneven playing field" in which we all pay for out-of-state contractors who thumb their noses at the law.

Both Morganelli and Boscola scoffed at the Department of Labor and Industry's lack of enforcement. Though the law gives the state the authority to impose administrative fines of up to $2,500 per violation and to issue stop work orders, they complained about lax enforcement.

Boscola disturbed by Labor's nonenforcement

The Labor webpage indicates that 29 complaints were received in 2011, but fails to state how those matters were resolved or identify the construction companies involved.  There is no information listed at all in 2012 and 2013.

Senator Stack, who thanked Morganelli and Boscola for their endorsement, stated he called the Labor Department several weeks ago to learn what happened in 2012 and 2013. "I'm a State Senator and I don't know. The silence has been deafening"

He complimented Morganelli for investigating a recent complaint on his own, although Morganelli stated his office has no authority to issue stop work orders.

Stack would like to amend the law to reimburse District Attorneys who undertake their own investigations, calling Morganelli "a true defender of justice" who is "trying to find a way up and out for people."

Kevin Lott, a Business Agent with the Carpenters Union, pointed to a recent study of a similar law in new York.Last year alone, New York's Department of Labor identified 24,000 instances of employees being improperly classified as independent contractors. This translates to $330 million in unreported wages and $12.2 million in unemployment insurance.

"It's a fairness issue," noted Lott, who pointed out that poor enforcement has caused three problems in Pennsylvania. First, the contractors who are cheating have an unfair advantage over those who play by the rules. Second, these cheating contractors are hurting workers, many of them already vulnerable, from important protections. Finally, the state is losing an important source of revenue.

Koplinski Wants Paterno to Go Kaput

Harrisburg Councilman Brad Koplinski has been running for LG for the past few years. In the meantime, the crime-ridden City he was elected to represent is sinking from its own financial weight. But this Pennsylvania Nero, who fiddles as Harrisburg burns, wants to narrow the field in that LG race. He plans to challenge the nomination petitions submitted by another LG candidate, Jay Paterno. 

The lawyer he's hired is none other than frivolous lawsuit specialist Larry Otter, who has been sanctioned by the Commonwealth Court as well as the Eastern District of Pa. for his vexatious conduct. 

The Otter is apparently out of hibernation.

Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/03/harrisburg_councilman_says_hel.html#incart_m-rpt-1

DA John Morganelli: Why Privatized Liquor Is Bad For Public Safety

Yesterday, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2008 and a potential candidate for Pennsylvania Lt. Governor in 2014, held a Press Conference in the Capitol Rotunda to explain why Governor Corbett's plan to privatize liquor sales in Pennsylvania is bad for public safety. He was joined by Stephen Erni, Executive Director, Pennsylvania DUI Association, and Felicity DeBacco Erni, also of Pa. DUI Assn. Morganelli is a Past President of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. Below are his remarks verbatim.

In the early morning hours of April 29, 2001, a 19 year old Christopher Mowad, with his blood alcohol level at twice the legal limit for an adult – lost control of his SUV at 83 miles per hour. It rolled over killing him and two 18 year old passengers. Earlier that evening, a 43 year old adult, Judith Clare McCloskey, allowed dozens and dozens of teenagers to consume alcoholic beverages in her basement at a party hosted by her two teenage daughters. Although she did not buy the alcohol for the teens, she did have knowledge that they were consuming alcohol in her basement and provided a safe haven for them to do so. Shortly after the investigation by police in that case, I directed that charges of Involuntary Manslaughter – 3 counts be lodged against Mrs. McCloskey in order to hold her criminally responsible for the deaths of the teenagers as a facilitator of underage teenage drinking. In the case that was deemed a “landmark” case by The Philadelphia Inquirer in its article of September 30, 2002, a jury of eleven women and one man found Mrs. McCloskey guilty of 3 counts of Manslaughter. She was subsequently sentenced to prison by a Northampton County judge. The case was the first of its kind in the nation to hold an adult criminally responsible for the deaths of teenagers who had consumed alcoholic beverages while under-aged with the help of an adult facilitator. The case was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and was upheld and now is precedent in Pennsylvania.

Since that time, unfortunately, I have seen the devastating effects when you mix alcohol, teenagers and motor vehicles. Numerous organizations throughout Pennsylvania including but not limited to the Pennsylvania DUI Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Students Against Drunk Driving, Alert Partnership and others have worked in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to work in communities to combat underage drinking in order to protect our teens.

Since that time, I have been vigilant in supporting public policy that punishes adult facilitators of underage drinking and restricts the ability of teenagers to obtain and possess alcohol. I come here today to speak out against Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed privatized liquor sales plan which, in my opinion, puts private business interests and their profits above the safety of our young people in Pennsylvania. At a time when we continue to struggle with a weak economy, it is mind boggling that one of Governor Corbett’s top priorities is to allow alcohol, including hard liquor to be more accessible and available to our young people which will clearly put them in harms way. His proposal is bad public policy and, quite frankly, risky public policy. His only rationale for this move as indicated by his spokesman is to give people “choice and convenience” and “flexibility” with respect to the purchase of alcohol. Governor Corbett, as a former Attorney General of this Commonwealth is at odds with many people in the law enforcement community, including the Pennsylvania FOP which opposed the plan in the last legislative session. The Pennsylvania Fraternal Police have opposed privatization efforts that included transfer of enforcement to local police who are not trained for said enforcement nor have resources to do so. Many people in law enforcement oppose an expansion of the availability of hard liquor and other alcohol which will ultimately allow easier access to under-aged drinkers. As was noted in their March 20, 2013 letter, the Pennsylvania FOP also recognizes that expanded access to alcohol throughout the Commonwealth threatens the safety of law enforcement officers and citizens. The U.S. Center for Disease Control has linked privatization of alcohol sales to an increase in per capita alcohol consumption. The U.S. Department of Justice has documented the clear connection between alcohol consumption rates and crime rates. In the State of Washington, in the months following privatization of liquor sales, the Association of Washington Cities reported a 63% increase in liquor thefts and a 30% increase in alcohol-related crimes near grocery stores and similar private vendors. The Center for Disease Control recommended against any further privatization of alcohol sales.

The Governor’s plan is not even revenue friendly in that it brings in revenue on a one time only basis and ignores the fact that liquor stores provide more than Five Hundred Million Dollar a year in taxes and profits to the state. Governor Corbett’s plan means an increase in drinking by our teenagers, more social problems linked to alcohol abuse including but not limited to crime, domestic violence and child abuse. Groups such as Students Against Drunk Driving, the Pennsylvania DUI Association, the NAACP and other organizations concerned with excessive and underage alcohol consumption all have opposed privatization in the past and for good reason.

In addition, Governor Corbett is not being transparent and honest with respect to the law enforcement impact. The Corbett Administration has assured that this transition to the private sector will be made safe by increases in law enforcement as well as alcohol treatment and prevention methods. Unfortunately, this sounds like another unfunded mandate that will not materialize.

In January of this year, more than 100 Tennessee sheriffs and police chiefs including Knoxville’s Chief David Rausch declared opposition to legislation that would allow the sale of wine in grocery stores. Rausch and several other law enforcement officers, part of a Tennessee law enforcement for strong alcohol laws coalition, declared at a legislative news conference that they see wine sales in groceries and supermarkets as weakening control over sales and causing an expansion of underage drinking. Rausch noted that at the present time sting operations with the State Alcoholic Commission and liquor agents currently run operations and rarely find state owned liquor stores doing anything wrong in the nature of selling to underage youths. He noted that convenient stores which now can only sell beer are much more likely to have clerks caught in sting operations. He noted that grocery stores often have under-aged clerks willing to “wink and nod” for sales to under-aged friends. Law enforcement officers noted that wine and other alcohol have higher alcohol content than beer and make it much more attractive to underage drinkers and for binge drinking.

Also, with privatization will come more advertising which will promote more drinking and increase under-aged drinking. In Eugene, Oregon, this year, the Eugene Prevention Coalition noted how high risk alcohol use was twice the national average largely due to stores advertising and promoting drinking and drinking games such as beer pong in order to tie them to alcohol sales.

Governor Corbett’s plan is a plan to fix something that is not broken. In the past years, the legislature has rejected several bills to privatize. These proposals threaten public safety and put more youth at risk.
As someone who has for the last 20 years attempted to do all that is possible to decrease the availability of alcohol to our teenagers, I am highly concerned that Governor Corbett’s plan, if adopted will do just the opposite. It will be much easier for teenagers to obtain all kinds of hard liquor due to lax enforcement and profit driven motives to sell more alcohol. Today, I ask our legislators to defeat Governor Corbett’s proposal which will put more of our young people at risk. The Governor’s business friends are doing just fine.

Morganelli Slams Corbett Over Positions on Women, Marriage Equality

Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli is eyeing run for Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania. Why? For one thing, he has problems with Corbett's leadership, and released this statement a few hours ago:

"Governor Tom Corbett once again has put his foot in his mouth and insulted Pennsylvanians. In March of 2012, Corbett told reporters that women could sit back and close their eyes when undergoing a mandatory ultrasound law for women seeking an abortion. This unnecessary, expensive (and since not medically necessary, probably not covered by insurance) procedure forced on all women seeking an abortion was justified by the governor because as he put it, it's "only" an external ultrasound.

Yesterday, Corbett tried to compare mature gay and lesbian couples who have been fighting for marriage equality with 12 year olds. This governor continues to use poor judgement and words to support his unpopular policies. Look to see a continued drop in the polls. "

Morganelli Eyeing Lt. Guv' Slot

According to PoliticsPA, Northampton County's popular DA, John Morganelli, is considering a bid for Lieutenant Governor. It could be a crowded field because seven other Democrats have expressed interest, and one of them, Harrisburg Council member Brad Koplinski, has already begun amateurishly attacking others.

Koplinski is part of a City government on the brink of failure, and perhaps he should focus on that distressed City before screwing up the rest of the State.

Morganelli, DA since 1993, is a proven administrator who has run his office with tight budgets, and has professionalized it. He has gradually phased out the part-time assistants, who tend to be political appointees, with career prosecutors like his top assistant, Terry Houck, a former Philly cop. Two of his former First Assistants have gone on to become judges, a role that appears to have no appeal to this tough product of Bethlehem's South Side.

As DA, one of his biggest innovations was convening a grand jury for cold cases, which has solved at least three murders and is on its way with leads in other cases.

Politically, Morganelli is something of an iconoclast. He has taken a tough stance on illegal immigration, but is a free speech purist who dismissed charges against an anti-war protest assembled outside the Palmer post office. If I had to classify him, I'd call him a blue collar Democrat.

His $260,000 warchest is a good start, but he needs ten times that amount to be competitive statewide. I only have about $10.

I have not spoken with Morganelli about this race, but hope he takes the plunge.

Born to Be Wild: Lt. Gov'r Candidate Nick DiFrancesco

"Get your motor running.
Head out on the highway.
Looking for adventure.
In whatever comes our way."

I don't know if he was born to be wild, but Dauphin County Comm'r Nick DiFrancesco is certainly having lots of fun toolin' through Pennsylvania's 67 counties on a Harley Davidson. He came through Northampton County yesterday. I met him on the street outside the courthouse, where I was busily hawking knock-off Rolex watches to unsuspecting lawyers and judges.

Nick's road trip started on Memorial Day, and he has just ten counties left. He's had some adventures. He talked about riding through severe thunderstorm in the coal regions. He talked about the smell of verdant pines wafting along Pennsylvania's blue mountains. But his most harrowing experience was Sunday night - camping in the slate belt. You see, he accidentally set up camp on property owned by the Northampton County Bulldog, Ron Angle.

Angle: "I'm gonna make you squeal like a pig. Weeeeeeee!"

Nick: "Hey, I'm a Dauphin County Commiss ..."

Angle: "Looks like we got us a sow here instead of a boar."

Nick threw a twenty, and when Angle dove on it, made his escape. "Man, that was like Deliverance."

Aside from Ron, what Nick likes most is talking to us. We apparently enjoy talking to dudes on Harleys.

Why the road trip? Nick, a Republican, may run in a crowded Lieutenant Governor's race next year, and he thought this would be a good way to learn what people are thinking. His campaign web page is here. His theme is pretty simple - honest government.

When he's not out riding his Harley, Nick has served as one of Dauphin County's three commissioners since 2003. He and fellow commissioners there have held the line on taxes for four years straight by shrinking the government workforce and imposing a hiring freeze. Dauphin County has also opened up, posting verbatim transcripts of official meetings online.

Before he roared off to the Allentown Fair, Nick reached into his bag and tossed me a black Harley T-shirt. That was nice. I'm pretty sure it's unethical for me, a broadcast journalist, to accept that token. But what do you expect from a disbarred lawyer? He'll discover his missing credit cards later.

Micek: Beyer Has Eyes On Lieutenant Guv' Seat

Capitol Ideas' John Micek does it again. Last week, he told us the Lehigh Valley delegation to the state house and senate had turned down their cost of living adjustments. The very next day, state reps. Craig Dally and Rich Grucela announced they were giving that money to Northampton County's Children & Youth.

Now, John tells us that another local state rep., moderate Republican Karen Beyer, is considering a run for lieutenant governor. Other possible candidates include western Pa.'s Rep. Mike Turzai and Sen. John Pippy and Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor.

What kills me about this is that Beyer has only served two years in state office. If she embarks on this quixotic quest now against better-funded candidates, she will certainly be shortchanging Allentown and other residents in her district for at least her entire final year in office. And will she pull a Jennifer Mann and run for two incompatible offices simultaneously, hedging her bets? If she does, she deserves to lose both elections.

It's too soon for her to be doing anything other than serving the people who elected her.