The LuLac Edition #291, August 24th, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: GOVERNOR ED RENDELL, THE BEATLES CIRCA 1964 AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE EDDIE DAY PASHINSKI.

STEADY EDDIES!!!

GOVERNOR RENDELL

You have to love Governor Rendell. He proposes taxes, the Legislators say no but the public doesn't blame Ed, they blame the Legislature! Even though the concede taxes went up under the Governor, the Legislature gets lower marks than the Executive branch. Pennsylvania voters are more likely to blame the legislature than Gov. Rendell for partisan fighting that left some major issues unresolved and a budget stalemate that prompted the furlough of about 24,000 state employees. But the legislature gets more credit for keeping new taxes out of the budget, according to a poll released yesterday.
Also, while 53 percent of the state's voters approve of Rendell's overall performance, a larger majority says the state's tax situation has remained the same or worsened since the Democrat took office in 2003, the poll by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut shows.
Partisan differences left several key initiatives in limbo - including a statewide smoking ban and an ambitious plan to promote alternative energy and conservation - when lawmakers left for their summer recess on July 17. The $27.2 billion budget finally was passed two weeks into the new fiscal year, and Rendell said the state would pay workers who had been idled by the one-day furlough.
Forty-seven percent of the respondents said the partisan gridlock was mostly the legislature's fault, while 21 percent blamed the governor and 20 percent said they shared responsibility. Blame for the furloughs also was tilted toward the legislature - 43 percent, compared with 35 percent for Rendell. Sixty-two percent said they believed a budget agreement could have been reached without the furloughs.
State taxes were cited most frequently as Pennsylvania's most important problem, followed by the economy, crime, education, health care and mass transportation, according to the telephone survey of 1,160 voters conducted from Aug. 14 through Monday.
Respondents gave the legislature more credit than Rendell - 42 percent to 34 percent - for keeping new taxes out of the budget. Fifty-eight percent said the state's tax situation was about the same now as when Rendell took office, while 28 percent said it had worsened.

EDDIE DAY PASHINSKI

Newcomer Eddie Day Pashinski is hard at work in Harrisburg. As a candidate, some detractors made fun of Pashinski's pearly whites but the guy is serious when it comes to prevbentative care for kids and oldsters. State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, is one of the lead House Democrats who is supporting legislation that would provide expanded routine dental services for school children and senior citizens in nursing homes in Pennsylvania.
The House is considering legislation (S.B. 455) that would create a new position of public health dental hygiene practitioner. Under the bill, dental hygienists would be required to complete 3,600 hours of practice under the supervision of a dentist and acquire medical malpractice insurance. That would allow them to perform dental services such as radiological procedures, teeth cleaning and filling.
The Luzerne County lawmaker is credited with introducing similar legislation (H.B. 1257), which is part of the Prescription for Pennsylvania eight-part package of “scope-of-practice” bills.
Pashinski is eagerly promoting the Senate’s dental hygiene bill that would help low-income residents. “My main concern is to change the law in order to provide more dental services to school children and senior citizens in nursing homes in Pennsylvania,” Pashinski said.
Pashinski said dental hygienists are an important part of Pennsylvania’s health-care system. “This bill would allow dental hygienists to practice to the fullest extent of their training so they can provide proper dental care to people who are less fortunate,” Pashinski said.
The legislation is modeled after one of the governor’s scope-of-practice proposals. The scope-of-practice proposals include legislation that would expand the ability of physician assistants, certified registered nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and nurse midwives to provide routine health care in Pennsylvania.

40 YEARS AGO

This weekend, 40 years ago, the Beatles performed their very last concert in America playing before a packed house in San Francisco. From the summer of '67, the year you were in musical heaven, courtesy of YOU TUBE, the Beatles and "All You Need Is Love". Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLxTpsIVzzo