The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg

Governor Tom Corbett has engineered what can only be called a financial invasion of the city of Harrisburg. The Governor has no Constitutional authority to takeover the finances of any local government in Pennsylvania. Yet, Gov. Corbett has done just that.

This all has to do with an Act of the General Assembly in the late 80s, called, "The Financially Distressed Municipality Act," also known as "Act 47," or "Chapter 115." You can see it at this link: http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/012/chapter115/chap115toc.html

Wikipedia defines the Act this way, "The Financially Distressed Municipalities Act (Act of 1987, P.L. 246, No. 47), also known as Act 47, empowers the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to declare certain municipalities as financially distressed. It provides for the restructuring of debt of financially distressed municipalities, limits the ability of financially distressed municipalities to obtain government funding; authorizes municipalities to participate in Federal debt adjustment actions and bankruptcy actions under certain circumstances; and provides for consolidation or merger of contiguous municipalities to relieve financial distress."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financially_Distressed_Municipalities_Act

I have skimmed through this Act. I have read through the Constitution for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And I see no constitutional authority for such an act. Nowhere does our State Constitution give the State Government the power and authority to takeover the finances of any local government. So, this act itself is unconstitutional.

Once it was determined that Harrisburg was a financially distressed city, the General Assembly passed "Act 47 Harrisburg" giving Governor Corbett broad powers in the takeover of Harrisburg.

Mayor Linda Thompson was elected by the people of Harrisburg to be the chief executive officer of Harrisburg. Enter "Act 47 Harrisburg" that effectively removes Mayor Thompson as the chief executive officer and gives that power to Governor Corbett, thus undermining the will of the people of Harrisburg. This is disenfranchisement of the voters of Harrisburg. And if I lived in Harrisburg, I would be shouting my head off about this. I will anyway, but it would be more effective if I lived in Harrisburg.

I would call on the General Assembly to impeach Governor Corbett, but the General Assembly also needs to be impeached. It seems no one in State Government cares about the Constitution. The best we can do is vote them all out in 2012, and hope the new General Assembly will impeach Governor Corbett.

This flagrant violation of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must not be able to stand. If these people can do this to the people of Harrisburg, they can also do this in Reading, Williamsport, York, Lancaster, Allentown, etc.

Me thinks it's time for an Occupy/Tea Party in Harrisburg.

I think it is somewhat a reaction to seeing bloating bodies on national TV during Katrina - something like whistling in the dark, even though the Act has been around longer.

Re: The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:14 am by TomL

Edward Palamar wrote:: I think it is somewhat a reaction to seeing bloating bodies on national TV during Katrina - something like whistling in the dark, even though the Act has been around longer.

How so?

TomL wrote:: How so?

Suppose that the people of New Orleans had a similar aversion to Federal intervention when Katrina hit. Those people would appear to be terrorists in and of their own city, looking not for help, but literally gloating over the bloating. Reports concerning life for those hours at the stadium have been to be one of terror.

Coverage of the hurricane wasn't limited to national press. The disaster looked bad for everyone involved. It reeked of poor response by the people to evacuate, and the storm made relief efforts difficult.

I don't know all the particulars as to why Harrisburg is deemed something of a disaster, but given the horrors of Katrina, I wouldn't rule out government trying to step up, whether with good intention, or as an over-reaction. If it is an over-reaction, then I would be more inclined to sympathize with you, as that could indeed be an undesired smothering.

Re: The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:50 am by TomL

What we are talking about is a city, i.e. Harrisburg, that has run itself into the ground financially. Constitutionally, that is the Pennsylvania Constitution, it is wrong for the State to bailout the city. Yet, the act mentioned in the OP allows them to just that, although they don't call it that.

TomL wrote:: What we are talking about is a city, i.e. Harrisburg, that has run itself into the ground financially. Constitutionally, that is the Pennsylvania Constitution, it is wrong for the State to bailout the city. Yet, the act mentioned in the OP allows them to just that, although they don't call it that.

This much I can say : for the past four years, I have had to purchase a new EGR valve to pass emission inspection, yet I do not know for certain if the the Commonwealth is behind such a travesty. The EGR valves may have been fine. It is the possible abuse of Harrisburg that I question. And on top of this is the fact that even though catalytic converters reduce harmful NOx, it doesn't eliminate them.

Re: The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg Sun Nov 03, 2013 10:30 pm by TomL

Edward Palamar wrote:: This much I can say : for the past four years, I have had to purchase a new EGR valve to pass emission inspection, yet I do not know for certain if the the Commonwealth is behind such a travesty. The EGR valves may have been fine. It is the possible abuse of Harrisburg that I question. And on top of this is the fact that even though catalytic converters reduce harmful NOx, it doesn't eliminate them.

Yep. That is State intervention, which would go away if I became Governor. See my Facebook page here... https://www.facebook.com/TomLineaweaverForGovernorOfPa

Sorry, I must have missed this comment when it was first written.

The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg

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The Financial Invasion of Harrisburg