June 2015Dear Friend, I am pleased to present my electronic newsletter. These e-newsletters enable me to provide information about issues, events and activities in Harrisburg and around the 21st Senatorial District to you in a timely manner while saving postage costs. If you find this e-newsletter useful, I invite you to visit my website www.senatorscotthutchinson.com for more information about your state government. If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters, please click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the page. Sincerely, Scott Rallying in Support of the 2nd Amendment
I was pleased to join with these patriots and several hundred other supporters of the 2nd Amendment at a rally on the Capitol Steps on May 12. The attendees, including a large number of my colleagues in the state Senate and House of Representatives, stood together to show our support for the basic right to bear arms as protected by the US Constitution. Numerous residents from throughout my legislative district, including Butler, Clarion, and Venango counties, were in attendance for the event. Senate Approves Public Pension Reform MeasureRecognizing that increasing public pension costs are creating an unsustainable burden on state government and local school districts, in May the Senate approved a reform measure drafted by Senate Republicans that is projected to produce $18.3 billion in savings over 30 years. Senate Bill 1 restructures the state’s two public employee pension systems – the State Employees’ Retirement System and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System – in order to make them viable in the long term. This bill recognizes the basic, undisputable fact that increasing pension costs must be addressed. This is not an easy task. It is important to stress that the benefits already earned by employees and retirees are protected. They are unchanged by Senate Bill 1. Instead, this bill provides an equitable way to address pension costs beginning in 2016 and moving forward from there. Economic conditions in the Commonwealth have significantly changed since the current style of pension plan was established, and travelling the current course is unsustainable for the taxpayers and property owners of Pennsylvania. Private employers moved in this direction long ago. The features of Senate Bill 1 include:
A Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission made up of investment professionals and retirement advisors will be established to make recommendations to the General Assembly and the Governor. Among their duties will be to evaluate the performance of current investment strategies and procedures of both state retirement systems regarding rates of return and associated fees paid for fund management. Beware of Fraudulent PENNDOT CitationsI want to warn everyone about a fraud scheme that claims individuals have received a traffic citation from PENNDOT. The Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center recently issued an alert regarding fraudulent emails claiming to originate from PENNDOT. The subject line of the fraudulent email indicates “Action Required – Fine for Traffic Violations.” The body of the email contains links to an alleged photo capture, but these messages are not affiliated with PENNDOT. These emails are not being sent by PENNDOT. In fact, fines for citations or traffic tickets issued in Pennsylvania are not paid directly to PENNDOT. Below is an example of the actual email received as part of this particular scam. There are signs that indicate this is a phishing scam, including poor spelling or grammar within the message. This message not only has “violation” spelled incorrectly, but also lists two different violation dates. Anyone who receives one of these emails should simply delete it.
State Police Respond to 718 Memorial Day Holiday CrashesThe Pennsylvania State Police investigated a total of 718 crashes, resulting in 247 injuries and 13 fatalities, during the four-day Memorial Day holiday driving period of May 22-25. During last year’s four-day Memorial Day holiday driving period, five people died and 277 others were injured in 709 crashes to which state troopers responded. This year, troopers made 451 arrests for driving under the influence and issued 13,619 speeding citations during the holiday period. State police also cited 1,264 individuals for not wearing seat belts and issued citations to 306 motorists for not securing children in safety seats. The statistics cover only those crashes investigated by state police and do not include statistics on incidents to which other law-enforcement agencies responded. PENNDOT Online Heavy Equipment Auction
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HARRISBURG Senate Box 203021 170 Main Capitol Harrisburg, PA 17120 (717) 787-9684 FAX: (717) 787-6088 TTY: (877) 659-4483 |
WARREN 22045 Route 6 Warren, PA 16365-7952 (814) 728-2100 FAX: (814) 728-2102 |
BUTLER 110 East Diamond Street Butler, PA 16001 (724) 282-1234 FAX: (724) 282-6852 |
OIL CITY 302 Seneca Street Oil City, PA 16301 (814) 677-6345 FAX: (814) 677-6331 |