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Senator Jane Orie

September 20, 2011

Dear Friend,

Thank you for taking the time to read the current edition of my 40th Senatorial District newsletter. These e-newsletters enable me to provide information about issues, events and activities of interest to local residents without any cost to taxpayers for printing and mailing.

If you do not wish to receive these e-newsletters in the future, please feel free to click the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of the page. If you would like to contact my office, please go to my web page at www.senatororie.com and click on the "contact" button. Please do not "reply" directly to this e-mail.

I am hopeful that the information included in this newsletter will foster greater public awareness of the issues affecting our communities and promote a mutual dialogue on the most important issues facing our state and region. As always, please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions pertaining to any state government program or agency. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Sincerely, 

Jane C. Orie

11th Annual Fall Senior Expo Scheduled for Friday, Sept 23 in Butler

HARRISBURG – More than 100 exhibitors will provide information on programs and services available to Pennsylvania's older residents at my 11th Annual Fall Senior Expo this Friday. Please stop by this fun and informative event, which becomes more popular every year.

The free informational event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, September 23 at the Butler County Airport located at 475 Airport Road in Butler.

The Senior Expo is designed to provide seniors with a "one-stop resource" for information on a wide range of services available to them – many of which are free of charge or at a reduced cost. Throughout the day, there will be free food, door prizes, and music and entertainment provided by local performers. Booths will be set up to provide seniors with information on a wide variety of programs and services that are available to them.

I am looking forward to a day that is both fun and informative, and I urge seniors and their families to take part in this year's event.

Marcellus Shale Bill Should Provide for Local Input

The rapidly growing Marcellus Shale industry brings both opportunities and challenges to our communities and a great deal of healthy debate about how to best harness its potential.

Because of shale's economic potential, there are many wide-ranging opinions on if and how much we should regulate this industry. Some have proposed taxing the drilling companies and using the money to fund local and statewide projects and programs. Others oppose any tax, saying that we should avoid any actions that could slow the growth or make us noncompetitive.

In the coming months, a number of proposals will likely be considered by the Legislature. I strongly believe in providing communities with strong local input on any drilling operations that will affect their citizens. I am also strongly opposed to the concept of "forced pooling" which allows the taking of mineral rights against the wishes of a property owner.

Although the Marcellus Shale industry is creating new jobs and economic opportunities for Pennsylvania, I think it is crucial that we manage this tremendous resource in a way that improves our economy and protects our quality of life.

New Website Offers Information on Legislative Redistricting Process

The Legislative Reapportionment Commission recently unveiled a new website that gives state residents unprecedented access to information on the legislative redistricting process. Redistricting is the process by which the boundaries of elective districts are periodically redrawn to maintain equal representation on the basis of population.

The new website, www.redistricting.state.pa.us, includes information on upcoming hearings as well as video and agendas from previous hearings. The site also features interactive Google maps showing the current and past outlines of seats in the General Assembly and Congress as well as 2010 Census data.

It also makes it easy for anyone to contact the Commission, watch Commission meetings and follow the timeline for legislative redistricting.

Every 10 years, state Senate and House districts are redrawn based on U.S. Census data to ensure state residents receive equal representation in state government. Under the new reapportionment plan, each state Senator will represent approximately 254,000 citizens and each member of the House will represent approximately 62,000. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission has been holding public hearings across the state to hear input from residents, including one in the Pittsburgh.

Banking and Insurance Committee Hears Testimony on UPMC and Highmark

The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, chaired by Senator Don White (R-Indiana), is holding a series of public hearings on the on-going contract dispute between UPMC and Highmark and Highmark's proposed acquisition of West Penn Allegheny Hospital. The committee is doing so to review the dispute and determine what, if any, regulatory role Pennsylvania has over the battling parties. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 22 at 1 p.m. in Erie (Erie Insurance Auditorium, 100 Erie Insurance Place, Sixth & French Streets, Erie, PA) and will feature testimony from Dr. Ken Melani, President and CEO of Highmark, and Jeffrey Romoff, President and CEO of UPMC.

 The disagreement between Highmark and UPMC, if left unresolved, could have a major impact on the region on several levels. It is important that we provide an open forum in which legislators and the public can achieve a better understanding of the various issues on the table.

Highmark and UPMC have been at odds over their service reimbursement contract which is set to expire on June 30, 2012. If the contract is not renewed, about 2,700 doctors in the UPMC system would be considered "out-of-network" for Highmark, which provides insurance coverage for about 3 million people in western Pennsylvania. Tension between the parties further escalated when Highmark announced plans to invest in West Penn Allegheny Health System -- UPMC's primary competitor in the region. To view the testimony from the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee hearings please go to my website - www.senatororie.com.

Bill Reintroduced to Implement National Adam Walsh Child Safety Act

This session, Sen. John Rafferty (R-Montgomery) and I are once again pushing for passage of our bill to protect children from sexual predators and adopt national standards to strengthen sex offender registration.

Senate Bill 1183 seeks to have Pennsylvania implement the national Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

The Adam Walsh Act is crucial to protecting our children from predators because it seeks to create a national standard for sex offender registries – registries that are available on the Internet, and have uniform enforcement. We need to have a strong and coordinated system in place to protect our children from predators."

The act also provides stricter registration requirements for convicted sex offenders as well as keeping their information more current. The convicted offender will have to register in person and the worst offenders will have to check in more frequently – ensuring that they don't slip through the cracks.
 

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