The defeat of Act 1 was nearly complete, with 490 of 498 Pennsylvania school districts voting it down. And that total might change because voters in the Reading School District approved Act 1 by just 54 votes. Berks County election officials have not counted absentee ballots yet and there are enough absentee ballots in Reading to overturn the 54-vote margin.
While the election vote was decisive, Act 1 is still not dead. The tax-shift referendum questions on the May 15 ballot were just one component of the monster that is Act 1. School boards are still burdened by deadlines for budget preparation and there is still the matter of back-end referendums. It's bad legislation that needs to go away completely.
It's important for school districts to also pass resolutions calling for the repeal of the entire legislation. Voters must also pressure their lawmakers to repeal Act 1.
Two more school districts have approved the repeal resolution drafted by the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition since the May 15 election. The coalition is made up of two dozen local taxpayer groups from across the state.)
Add the Towanda School District in Bradford County and the Fleetwood School District in Berks County to the list. (By the way, Berks County still leads the way in opposing Act 1, with 11 of the 18 school districts in Berks adopting the repeal resolution.)
Now that voters have spoken on Act 1, it should be easier to persuade your school board to approve the Act 1 repeal resolution, which can be viewed at the PTCC Web site, http://www.ptcc.us/
The state House passed legislation that led to Act 1 by a 137 to 61 margin. Most of the 'No' votes were by Republican lawmakers. The state Senate approved the measure by a 40 to 9 margin. House members have to run for re-election every two years. Senate members run every four years, but only half the Senate will face the voters in 2008.
In Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, the following state representatives voted in favor of Act 1: David G. Argall (R-124); Tom Caltagirone (D-127); Kate Harper (R-61); Art Hershey (R-13); Daylin Leach (R-149); Doug Reichley (R-134); Carole Rubley (R-157); Dante Santoni (D-126); and Josh Shapiro (D-153).
Until we see genuine property tax relief, think twice about re-electing these people in 2008.
In the Senate, the following members who represent parts of Berks, Chester and Montgomery (and voted in favor of Act 1) will face the voters in 2008: Michael A. O’Pake (D-11); Dominic Pileggi (R-9); James J. Rhoades (R-29) and Connie Williams (D-17).
If you want to know how your state representative or senator voted on Act 1, send me an e-mail and I'll get the information for you.
Here's the current list of school districts that have called for repeal of Act 1. If your district is not on the list, start calling your elected school board members and ask them to put it on the agenda for the next board meeting.
Act 1 Resolution Schools
1)
2) Armstrong (Armstrong)
3)
4) Boyertown (Berks/Montgomery)
5)
6)
7)
8) Catasauqua (Lehigh/Northampton)
9) Centennial (Bucks)
10) Central Bucks (Bucks) (Largest district in the state subject to Act 1 provisions)
11) Coatesville (
12) Conrad Weiser (Berks)
13) Daniel Boone (Berks)
14)
15) Fleetwood (Berks)
16) Governor Mifflin (Berks)
17)
18) Muhlenberg (Berks)
19) Old Forge (
20)
21) Pennsbury (Bucks)
22)
23) Towanda (Bradford)
24) Tunkhannock (
25) West Branch (Clearfield)
26) William Penn (
27) Wilson (Berks)
28) Wyalusing Area (Bradford)
29) Wyomissing (Berks)
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