An employee of Sen. Bob Regola’s Harrisburg office has been suspended without pay and benefits for allegedly mishandling $40,000, the Senate Clerk’s Office said Wednesday.

The employee was identified as Pamela Barnhart by Senate Chief Clerk Russell Faber, who oversees Senate accounts.

The matter has been turned over to Capitol Police, Faber said. Regola discovered that “funds were misused or missing” in a legislative account established for use by Regola in his official duties, according to Faber.

“I just found out about it Friday,” Regola said in a telephone interview. “It’s very upsetting to me. I’m very disappointed. I’m going to provide as much as possible to the Capitol Police. I’m still in the process of gathering documentation.”  read more »

Jason Petrella has officially replaced Sean Ramaley as the Democratic nominee in the state senated district 47.

State Democratic Party executive committee members Wednesday picked political newcomer Jason Petrella to replace Rep. Sean Ramaley as the party’s state Senate candidate over Beaver County Commissioner Joe Spanik.

Abe Amoros, a state Democratic Party spokesman, said Petrella received 26 votes, the minimum number needed to win the nomination of the 50-member executive committee. Amoros said officials stopped counting once Petrella got enough votes, and he said the party would not reveal how many votes Spanik received.

Three consumer watchdog groups have questioned state Sen. Robert Mellow’s appointment to the Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Board of Directors.

Citing the recent bonus scandal that rocked Harrisburg, they said Mellow’s paid position on the health insurance provider’s board is ill-timed, unwise and reeks of questionable ethics.

Mellow dismissed the criticism and staunchly defended his ability to remain impartial. Mellow’s May appointment to the Hospital Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania Board – the insurer’s corporate name – was announced July 29. He will earn a base pay of $25,000 with the ability to earn about $10,000 more per year factoring in meeting attendance stipends.  read more »

The Democratic senator from Philadelphia said he was not resigning early – he will stick by his plan to serve out his term, which ends this year.

But he said he wanted to give his goodbyes because he did not believe he would be back in Harrisburg in the fall, when lawmakers return from summer break.

At that point, he will be fighting a raft of corruption charges awaiting him in federal court in Philadelphia. He is accused of using his position and staff to live lavishly at the expense of taxpayers – and of trying to block an FBI investigation into his conduct. His trial is scheduled to begin in early September.  read more »

After the state Senate gave final approval to a statewide smoking ban yesterday, Pittsburgh’s Bill Godshall stood in the gallery and started clapping.

“I am so pleased — I’ve been working on this for 22 years,” said the head of SmokeFree Pennsylvania.

“I knew this would happen sooner or later, but it’s better sooner. This is the most important public health legislation enacted in this state in the last several decades. This is truly historic.”

The Senate vote to enact the smoking ban was 41-9, a turnaround from last week, when it rejected a House-Senate conference committee report by a 31-19 margin.

The state Senate this evening voted to table a bill that would have amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

The main sponsor, Sen. Michael Brubaker, R-Lancaster, said it had become clear to him that the bill would not pass in the House and he therefore saw no point to a lengthy debate in the Senate.

Up to 14 amendments were planned on the bill, which would have meant a long night.

One of the amendments was by Sen. Vincent Fumo, D-Philadelphia, who proposed that Pennsylvania outlaw most divorces. His amendment would “outlaw the dissolution of most marriages in Pennsylvania,” he said in a news release. That would mean there would be few legal ways for the divorce of a married couple, a man and a woman.
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Pennsylvanians could have fewer dinnertime interruptions and automatic political messages waiting on their answering machines under a bill approved by the state Senate on Wednesday.

The measure would allow people to block automatic telephone calls, or ‘‘robocalls,’‘ by political campaigns, parties and organizations. The bill, which passed 48-1, now goes to the House of Representatives, where similar measures are awaiting a vote.

Under the bill, a person wishing to block recorded political calls would have to specify that they want their telephone number to appear on a ‘‘do-not-call’‘ list to be maintained by the attorney general’s office or another state agency.  read more »

From the DoS website, here are the winners in the contested races for US House and State Senate. The results for the State House are here, but of note is that Don Costa (D), D21, may or may not have won this seat. The vote looks too close to call and I expect a recount.

US Rep:

PA-03 – Kathy Dahlkemper (D)
PA-05 – Mark McCraken (D) – Glenn Thompson®
PA10 – Chris Hackett®
PA-18 – Steve O’Donnell (D)

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State Senate PA-1 Larry Farnese (D)
PA-13 Lloyd Smucker®
PA-15 Judy Hirsh (D)
PA-17 Lance Rogers®
PA-23 Gene Yaw®
PA-33 Richard Alloway II®
PA-39 Bompiani (D)  read more »