Iceberg Dead Ahead? Conservative Dissatisfaction with Piccola

Judging from GrassrootsPA, the party establishment -- in Central PA, anyway -- may be (unwisely) hopping on the Piccola bandwagon. (Pension-Jacker Piccola can raise money, and he's been around a long time, a looooong time, which the establishment likes. Of course, he'll NEED money to defend his record. The Dems must be rubbing their hands with glee.)

But if the elections of 2006 showed anything, it was that those pesky rank-and-file people -- voters! -- don't always fall in lockstep behind the establishment anymore. You can see this in several of the comments on GrassrootsPA about the recent Central PA caucus endorsement vote. Here is a sampling:

Bob Guzzardi:

Piccola is also Pro Asher, an unrepentent convicted perjurer and attempted briber of public officials and a national representative of Penna Republican State Committee. Really, does this give one confidence in a Piccola candidacy?

"SEPA":

Piccola won did relatively poorly on his home turf. Just like when he ran for governor. Folks still haven’t forgotten when he ran a slate of pro-choice candidates to knock off the many pro-lifers that were once upon a time on State Committee in central PA. Piccola also voted for the third largest tax increase in history.

More Guzzardi:

Mike Long’s involvement in any race has to mean that Reform Conservatives will not support that candidate. I am surprised at Jeff Piccola. He should know that.

"Yvonne":

By the way, I didn’t realize that Jeff Piccola hired Long. That changes everything in my mind. Good luck, Jeff, but you won’t have me advocating for you personally.

"Clark Kent":

So what exactly is Piccola’s abortion stance…? Last I checked he was pro-choice but switched to pro-life when he ran for Gov.

Sounds like someone read our recent post "Pro-Choice Piccola? An F+ on Tax-and-Spend? Yikes."

Pension-Grab Piccola: His 2001 Vote Still Costs Us

Thanks to Eric Epstein of Rock the Capital, one of several reform groups formed in reaction to the infamous pay raise, the public can now easily access the list of the 41 state senators who voted for the whopping pension grab of 2001. (We could adopt the Tribune-Review's style and call them "pension-jackers.") Epstein is a liberal but he has no problem going after Dems, and he has provided a real public service by digging up this info. He sent it to several people recently, including a friend of this blog.

Given Senator Jeff Piccola's record, we here at Not Piccola figured he was one of the Yes votes. And he was.

Here's an image of the roll call sheet.



Hopefully Rock the Capital will post a PDF of the roll call vote in case anyone has trouble viewing the image we've posted here.

In addition to Piccola, other notable "conservatives" among the 41 Senate pension-jackers include Scarnati, Mary Jo White (but NOT Don White), Corman, Punt, Madigan, Rhoades... Jubelirer and Brightbill too (surprise).
Armstrong appears to have been absent. Pileggi wasn't in the Senate yet, so he can't be blamed for this one.
And two "conservative" state senators who are now congressmen -- Gerlach and Tim Murphy -- voted for the pension grab too.

Need a refresher course on why the pension grab is such a big deal?

Tony Phyrillas column in the Pottstown Mercury: "The pay raise, which was repealed following months of public outcry, would have cost taxpayers about $20 million a year. The pension scandal has a potential price tag of $4.5 billion."

Tribune-Review editorial: "Lawmakers who put in three years and pass their 50th birthdays get their pensions without penalty, courtesy of state taxpayers. Those who stick around -- and most do -- typically walk away with more pension income than the average Pennsylvania worker earns in a year."

(Jeff Piccola had 24 years in the legislature as of 2001, and now he's up to 30. If he can get himself 10 years or more on the state Supreme Court, he could probably rack up an even fatter pension!)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article: Think tank sees trouble for Pa. pension funds

For you policy wonks, here's a link to the Commonwealth Foundation's report.

And the Trib again -- an article on what this means at the local level, for your property taxes: "The contribution increase in 2012 will boost costs by $22 million in Pittsburgh Public Schools, $2.7 million at Shaler Area, $2.5 million at Penn Hills and at North Hills, $2.4 million at Baldwin-Whitehall and $1.2 million at Quaker Valley. Shaler Area's Bennett said he would prepare two years ahead of time for the cost jump by encouraging early teacher retirements or property tax hikes."

How much will Jeff Piccola's pension-grab vote cost YOU? Kiss that property tax cut good-bye!

PREVIOUS POSTS:

Intro to Piccola's Record (including his vote for the 2003 package of tax increases

Pro-Choice Piccola? An F+ on Tax-and-Spend? Yikes