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Pat Toomey drops the ‘I’ word — “im- Freshman Rep. Frank Ryan’s singular Lou Barletta, the Republican trying to
peachment” — while ripping the state mission in the Legislature is to keep unseat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, is fighting in
Supreme Court justices who redrew Pennsylvania from going bankrupt. a more competitive weight class. Could
the congressional districts. PAGE 4 The clock is ticking. PAGE 10 he be a real-world Rocky? PAGE 12
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 CONTENTS F E B R U A R Y 2 7, 2 0 1 8

10
Freshman Rep. Frank Ryan outlines
his mission to keep Pennsylvania from
going bankrupt in an interview with The
Caucus.

BLAINE T. SHAHAN FOR THE CAUCUS

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

4 THE ‘I’ WORD

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says the state
Supreme Court decision on the
congressional maps should spark
an ‘inevitable’ discussion about
impeaching the justices
10 NOT GOING FOR BROKE
Freshman Rep. Frank Ryan’s singular mission SEND US A NEWS TIP
If you know of a good story, are holding a political
in the Legislature is to keep Pennsylvania from
event or fundraiser, or want to share information about
going bankrupt. The clock is ticking. a new hire in your agency or firm, please send an email to
tips@CaucusPA.com or mail to
12 ROCKY BARLETTA?
The Republican trying to take away Bob Casey’s
PO Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328

6 THE UNDEAD
What happens to all that PAC
money when the campaign ends?
Senate seat is fighting in a more competitive
weight class – without the experience or money.
Please remember to include contact information
unless you wish to remain anonymous.
Will he suffer a TKO?

9 14
ON THE COVER
CAPITOL DISPATCHES THIS WEEK IN PA HISTORY Graphic by
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and benefits of the upcoming week and just plain odd political news

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Tuesday, February 27, 2018 THE CAUCUS 3

 OVERHEARD ON 3RD

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey listens

during a roundtable dis-
cussion on tax reform with
Lancaster business leaders in
November.

DAN MARSCHKA FOR THE CAUCUS

THE ‘I’ WORD

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey says the state Supreme Court
decision on the congressional maps should spark an
‘inevitable’ discussion about impeaching the justices

U
» » SAM JANESCH + PAULA KNUDSEN

.S. Sen. Pat Toomey stopped by the Capitol last week to
blast the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s new congres-
sional map and give legs to an idea that would further
push the state into constitutional crisis mode.
The junior Republican senator said blatant, unconstitutional partisan pow-
“a conversation that has to happen,” er-grab that undermines our electoral
and an “inevitable” one, is whether process — does that rise to the level of
the five Democratic justices should be impeachment?” Toomey said to report-
impeached. ers in the Rotunda.
“I think state House members, state Jefferson County Republican Rep.
senators are going to be speaking among Cris Dush made national news two
themselves and their constituents and weeks ago when he began circulating
the fundamental question is: does this a co-sponsorship memo that called for
impeaching the justices over the redis-
tricting decision.
The justices who voted to throw out
the Legislature’s map “engaged in mis-
behavior in office” by violating the state
and federal constitutions, Dush said.
Dush told The Caucus last week he
is still circulating his co-sponsorship
memo for impeachment, but he has now
decided not to pursue impeachment for
Justice Max Baer.
Dush, who said he has been taking
a lot of “flak” on social media, said he
isn’t introducing the resolutions lightly.
“We don’t have any recourse,” he said.
“I think they know that they’ve crossed
the line.”
Toomey, asked if he was pushing
lawmakers to move that effort forward,
said he hadn’t — “yet.” But he would
urge them, he said, to talk about it
among themselves and with their con-
stituents.
Critics have said impeaching the jus-
tices because Republicans disagree with
their decision would be, as the American
Civil Liberties Union put it, “effectively
neutering protection for individual
rights.”
Toomey called the redistricting deci-

4 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018


sion “a terrible miscarriage of
justice.” He said he would be as
helpful as he could be to the state
Republicans’ legal challenge to the
new map.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell said the
idea of impeaching state supreme
court justices was “ludicrous.”
“What they did is legal and ap-
propriate,” Rendell said.
WHAT PEDRO CORTÉS
IS DOING
Former Secretary of State Pedro
Cortés, who abruptly resigned from
office last October, has resurfaced
with a new Harrisburg firm, Cortés
Global. The firm’s website de-
scribes its work as “professional
consulting services.”
Cortés did not return a phone
call or email seeking comment on
the new endeavor.
Before he resigned last year,
Cortés was the longest-serving
secretary of state in Pennsylva-
nia history. He held the role from
2003 to 2010 under Rendell. Wolf
appointed him to the role in 2015,
and he held the position until his
resignation.
The only information provided
by the Wolf administration, which
has touted its stance on trans-
parency, was a brief “personnel
update” naming Robert Torres
interim Secretary of State. Wolf has
repeatedly refused to comment on
Cortés’ resignation.
In November, The Philadelphia
Inquirer obtained emails that sug-
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OVERHEARD ON 3RD
gested Cortés hadn’t resigned but
was fired.
“I have done a great deal of soul
searching in the last 24 hours,”
Cortés wrote in an email the day
before his resignation. “I remain at
a lost [sic] to understand why you
would dispense with my services
without sharing with me concerns
you had about my professional
performance or personal life.”
“Wished I had that opportu-
nity,” Cortes wrote in the email
quoted by the Inquirer.
Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott
did not respond to a request for
comment about when a permanent
secretary of state would be named.
HOUND HEALTH
Sorry, Canine Health Board.
There’s a new dog in town.
Legislators last year enthusias-
tically joined with Gov. Tom Wolf
for the signing of “Libre’s Law,”
an expansion of the state’s animal
cruelty protections. Now some law-
makers are looking to nix a state
board dedicated to hound health.
A group of Republican House
members last week introduced a
package of bills aimed at stream-
lining state government through
mergers and eliminations.
Rep. Jonathan Fritz (R-Susque-
hanna/Wayne), unveiled legisla-
tion that would remove numerous
obsolete state boards or commis-
sions — among them, the Canine
Health Board. Other groups on
Fritz’s hit list include: the Small
Former Secretary
of State Pedro
Cortés
Business Advocacy Council, Adult
Basic and Literacy Education
Interagency Coordinating Council,
Joint Committee to Review Cost of
Living, the Legislative Representa-
tive for Collective Bargaining and
the Lobbying Disclosure Regula-
tions Committee.
“Many of these boards and
commissions are merely names
on paper and have been obsolete
for quite some time,” Fritz said in
a news release. “With spring just
around the corner, now is a perfect
time for the General Assembly to
do some spring cleaning while,
more importantly, quite literally
reducing the size of government.”
The Canine Health Board was
created by the Dog Law signed by
Gov. Ed Rendell in 2008. Speaking
in support of the establishment
of the board on the Senate floor
in October 2008, then-Sen. Mi-
chael Brubaker (R-Lancaster) said
the board would be “made up of
veterinarians who will determine
ventilation, lighting standards, and Libre, the Boston
types of flooring that will be per- Terrier whose name is
associated with a 2017
mitted based on acceptable animal
animal cruelty law. He
husbandry practices.” was photographed at
Department of Agriculture The Caucus offices in
spokesperson Bonnie McCann December.
said that while the Canine Health
Board continues to exist, it does
not meet on a recurring basis. She
said the board is not compensated
but can be reimbursed for reason-
able costs. In addition, McCann
said, the Board has no on-going
annual financial impact associ-
ated with it. FILE PHOTOS
G
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 THE CAUCUS 5
THE UNDEAD
Elections come and go, but some campaign accounts
live forever. And ever. And ever.

6 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018


T
» » SAM JANESCH + PAULA KNUDSEN + MIKE WERESCHAGIN
he brief political life of Harry Citrino III ended on a
Tuesday night in 2002, when election returns in the
Philadelphia-based 170th Legislative District race
showed him losing to Republican George Kenney.
Citrino garnered less than 35 percent
of the fewer than 19,000 votes cast, and
he never put his name on another state
ballot.
But his campaign committee was just
getting started.
Contributions continued to trickle
into the Friends of Harry Citrino com-
mittee over the years, and, since 2003,
the campaign has spent more on other
candidates than it did on the one it
briefly aimed to elect.
It’s “a very strange thing to do” even
if it is perfectly legal, said campaign-fi-
nance expert Adav Noti of the Campaign
Legal Center in Washington, D.C.
And while Citrino’s fundraising and
spending may be paltry in the grand
scheme of campaign finance, it’s just one
of the many “zombie PACs” that contin-
ue to operate in Pennsylvania years after
their candidates cease to have political
ambitions.
Election loss, retirement, term
limits, criminal conviction and death
may mean the effective end of political
careers — but not necessarily the end of
their campaigns.
Zombie campaigns operate at the
federal level, too. There are about 100 of
them still raising and spending money
to influence federal elections.
Those campaigns are paying for
everything from cellphones to football
tickets to gifts for family members of
congressmen — long after those elected
officials leave Washington, D.C. The
campaign arm of former Rep. Mark
Takai of Hawaii kept spending on “con-
sulting services” for months after the
congressman died.
In Pennsylvania, where campaign-
finance laws have long been considered
weak and where candidates aren’t
required to terminate their political com-
mittees when they leave office, a Caucus
analysis found many top-ranking officials
who left public life but continued to hold
hefty pots of leftover campaign cash —
with little oversight on how they spent it.
In some cases, campaign records re-
viewed by The Caucus revealed a tangled
and confusing web of cash transfers
between vague and often innocuous-
sounding campaign accounts whose
political agendas are opaque. They also
exposed flaws in the state’s campaign-
finance laws, which are designed to
promote transparency in electioneering.
“I’m a pretty good forensic CPA,”
said Rep. Frank Ryan, a Republican
from Lebanon County and a licensed
certified public accountant. “I couldn’t
trace where all the money was going to
through different PACs. And the reason
is I didn’t have the time. It’s a challenge
to find out the way the money can get
around there. I used to do banking.
That’s called bank fraud.”
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale,
who doesn’t have jurisdiction to audit
campaigns, said he didn’t even know
that political action committee money
gets passed around like that in the state.
“I don’t know what you do about that,”
he said.
COVER STORY
Rendell said he tries to keep PA Fu-
ture donations for Pennsylvania candi-
dates and Keeping America Competitive
for out-of-state candidates.
And sometimes they give to other
vaguely named political committees.
PA Future’s largest donations last
UNEARTHING A PAPER TRAIL? year, $60,000, went to the Philadelphia-
GOOD LUCK based Fairness PA committee, which
raised $1.2 million and donated $1 mil-
To fully understand the shape-shift- lion to Gov. Tom Wolf’s campaign last
ing transformation some zombie PACs year.
experience, look no further than former In effect, money raised through Ren-
Gov. Ed Rendell’s campaign committees. dell’s former gubernatorial campaign
In the dozen years since Rendell was went through multiple channels to end
last a candidate for elected office, his up in his Democratic successor’s re-
committees have remained as active election campaign.
as ever. But instead of fundraising and Rendell’s PACs had a combined
spending money on behalf of the two- $400,000 left in the bank at the end of
“
term governor and former Philadelphia 2017. They also had four unpaid debts
mayor, they’ve taken on different roles — totaling $65,500 from 1990 and 1991
and cryptic names. that Rendell said have been forgiven but
What used to be “Edward Rendell for don’t show it because the committee
Gov” is now “Keep- hasn’t filed the ap-
ing America Com- propriate paper-
petitive.” work.
What was “Ren- Rendell’s
dell ’95” is “PA Fu- Republican
ture.” I’m a pretty good successor, Tom
Together, Corbett, went
they’ve spent more forensic CPA. I another route with
than $10 million his PAC after he
since 2006 on can- couldn’t trace lost re-election.
didates at every lev- By the end of 2014,
el of government where all the mon- Corbett’s guber-
inside and outside natorial campaign
of Pennsylvania, ey was going to committee was
campaign-finance closed and had
reports show.
Supreme Court
through different transferred the re-
maining $150,678
candidates like
Dwayne Woodruff
PACs. to his other com-
mittee, Friends
and Debra Todd REP. FRANK RYAN of Tom Corbett,
R-LEBANON COUNTY
received, respec- which went on to
tively, $7,500 and spend the rest of
$1,500 in 2017. In 2016, then-attorney its money by September 2016.
general hopeful Josh Shapiro took home The funds went to a trio of Har-
at least $8,500. Hillary Clinton’s cam- risburg-based firms for “professional
paign got $15,000 in March 2015, more services,” the Pennsylvania Republican
than a year before Rendell would host Party for campaign staff salaries, and to
her at the Democratic National Conven- ongoing efforts — including $25,000 to
tion in Philadelphia. the Republican Governor’s Association
Out-of-state beneficiaries of Ren- and $25,000 to the PA Future Fund, a
dell’s fundraising prowess include a PAC chaired by businessman and Re-
Maryland congressional candidate, a publican National Committee member
former mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, Bob Asher.
and gubernatorial candidates in Maine
and Virginia. ZOMBIES RUN AMOK
In an interview, Rendell said he UNDER WEAK LAWS
chooses to donate to candidates “who I
think are going to do a good job and care Pennsylvania’s campaign-finance law
about the same things I cared about as is notoriously relaxed, experts say.
mayor and governor.” Campaigns have wide latitude when
He said he also keeps at least three it comes to spending, including the
people on payroll for “consulting ability to spend money for personal use.
services.” One is a fundraiser who was They also don’t have to explain in detail
involved in his gubernatorial campaign, when reporting the purpose of expendi-
and another takes care of office duties tures, and there are no limits on indi-
such as record-keeping. vidual contributions or political action
Both were paid $21,000 in 2017, ac- committee donations.
cording to the reports. DePasquale called the law a “joke”
The third, who was paid the most in 2016 when former Attorney General
at $63,000 last year, is a former staffer Kathleen Kane was dishing out cam-
from his time as district attorney and paign money for legal fees.
now handles compliance issues related The Center for Public Integrity, in
to the PACs, he said. its 2015 State Integrity Investigation,
Keeping America Competitive raised gave Pennsylvania an “F” in the political
$477,000 and spent $266,000 in 2017. financing category, ranking it the 43rd
The biggest chunk of expenditures, worst among states.
$125,000, went right to the other com- And in 2017, researchers with the
mittee, PA Future, which in-turn spent Electoral Integrity Project — a venture
it on other candidates and committees. of the University of Sydney and Harvard
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
University — also rated Pennsylvania’s
campaign-finance law on the low end of
their spectrum. They gave it a score of
45, just above Wisconsin’s 40, the lowest
in the nation.
David Thornburgh, president and
chief executive officer of the Philadel-
phia-based good government group
Committee of Seventy, said Pennsylva-
nia is generally regarded as the “wild,
wild West” when it comes to campaign-
finance issues.
Elizabethtown College political sci-
ence professor Kyle Kopko described
the state’s approach as being “very
hands-off.”
“There are reporting and disclosure
requirements, and that seems to be the
bare minimum. But that’s something
conservatives really promote. They want
to have that minimal type of regulation
on money and expenditures. Money is
speech to them,” he said.
Kopko said there’s little chance of
any reforms in the near future.
Still, Sen. Jay Costa said he’s “hope-
ful” his legislation prohibiting the
personal use of campaign funds has
momentum and will make contributions
more transparent.
“My constituents want fairer and
more transparent processes. My bill
would give them that,” Costa said in a
prepared statement. “I’m sure my col-
leagues are hearing the same from their
constituents, and campaign-finance
reform is a great step.”
Thornburgh agreed that timely
and complete disclosure of campaign-
finance transactions is critical. “Trans-
parency is the first line of defense
against illegal, unethical, too-cozy
relationships between contributors and
candidates,” he said.
Micah Sims, executive director of
Common Cause Pennsylvania, said the
Legislature could consider additional
improvements to deal with inactive
PACs — possibly passing legislation that
would allow the Department of State to
shut down those that have been dor-
mant for at least three years.
DePasquale said he supports limits
on contributions and more frequent
reporting deadlines. As for oversight, he
said the Department of State audits a
random 3 percent of campaign accounts
every year; he said that number should
probably be closer to 10 percent.
As a House member, he was the sub-
ject to one of the random audits and “it
was pretty helpful,” he said. “We got a lot
of good tips.”
Giving those insights to more cam-
paigns is going to cost the state, though.
“Is there an argument to do every
campaign fund every year? Absolutely,”
DePasquale said. “But you’re going to
need more staff in the Department of
State to do it.”
’TIL DEATH DO US PART
— OR NOT
Rendell, who said he also gives
personally to candidates, defended his
ongoing political committees as a way to
contribute to a new generation of politi-
cal leaders.
“I wanted to continue to stay rel-
evant in terms of having an impact on
CONT., page 8
THE CAUCUS 7

Continued from page 7
getting good people into gov-
ernment, which I thrived on
when I was governor. I tried to
make sure we slated good peo-
ple to run for all of the offices in
Pennsylvania,” he said. “To the
extent that I can do it, through
the use of my PACs, that was my
main goal.”
The end of the former gover-
nor’s political career has likely
jump-started countless new
ones.
But sometimes, political
careers are born out of death
itself.
In 2009 Corey O’Connor,
son of the late Pittsburgh Mayor
Bob O’Connor, was in the early
stages of his own budding politi-
cal career. The buzz around him
had long been about when, not
whether, he’d run for his dad’s
former city council seat.
Corey O’Connor’s late father
had given him more than just a
well-known name in their Pitts-
burgh enclave; his still-active
campaign committee donated
$120,000 to his son’s that No-
vember, two years before he’d
win his first term, according to
campaign-finance records.
The elder O’Connor died in
2006, just shy of nine months
into his first year in office. Dur-
ing the years that followed, his
wife, Judith, continued to sign
off on annual reports for her
husband’s committee, which
had $165,000 in 2008. In a box
on the reports’ cover sheets,
under “Name of Office Sought
by Candidate,” it says, “Mayor,
City of Pgh.”
Aside from the large gift to
his son, Bob O’Connor’s cam-
paign fund gave its money to
charities around the city, and
donated $10,000 to the Pitts-
burgh Foundation to set up a
memorial fund.
His signature annual fund-
raiser, the “Cookie Cruise,” also
continued, though the proceeds
shifted to a foundation set up in
the late mayor’s name.
Some deaths give life to their
successors’ campaigns.
Rep. Dan McNeill’s death
last fall fueled his wife’s suc-
cessful bid to replace him,
according to campaign-
finance reports. Shortly
after McNeill’s death,
almost all of the last
$10,500 left in his ac-
count went to a new
campaign for Jeanne
McNeill, now rep-
resenting the 133rd
Legislative District in
Lehigh County.
When former
House Speaker Matt
Ryan died in the
middle of his term in 2003,
the three largest donations —
about $50,000 each — spent to
empty out his campaign went
to the Delaware County Re-
publican committee, the 168th
Legislative District Republican
committee and the House Re-
publican Campaign Committee.
Other recipients included
8 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018
COVER STORY
eight local Republican commit-
tees in his suburban Philadel-
phia district.
Former Lt. Gov. Catherine
Baker Knoll’s campaign —
which ceased to have a clear
goal when its candidate died
in office in November 2008 —
went another route.
In the days before her death,
and in the month afterward,
about $13,000 went to herself
and her immediate family
members for campaign “reim-
bursements,” according to her
reports.
More than $18,500 was given
to her estate by mid-2009 to
empty out her campaign ac-
count. The reports say those
payments were also for “re-
imbursements” — a term that,
while allowed by Pennsylvania
campaign-finance law, is so
vague as to prevent any real
evaluation of whether the mon-
ey is being spent for campaign
purposes.
The Department of State
did not respond to a request for
comment about whether candi-
dates must provide receipts for
“reimbursement” expenses.
CAMPAIGNS THAT
JUST WON’T DIE
Citrino, the state House can-
didate who never won election
in 2002 but kept his campaign
account open, was still spending
money as of last year.
In his original campaign,
he raised $31,673 and spent
$16,707, leaving about $15,000
in cash. People continued to do-
nate here and there — $2,000 in
2003, about $1,700 in 2005, all
the way down to $380 in 2012
— but the candidate they were
supporting never put his name
name on another state ballot,
state records show.
Rather, during the 15 years
that followed his ill-fated House
bid, Citrino doled that cash out
in relatively small donations to
an even smaller pool of candi-
dates.
Lt. Gov. Mike Stack was the
biggest beneficiary, receiving
$13,785 over the years. It was
a bit of turnabout for the two;
Stack was by far Citrino’s big-
gest donor, having given Citrino
$10,000 for his lone campaign,
according to campaign-finance
records.
In all, his campaign has
spent about $26,000 on other
politicians since 2003, which
is almost $10,000 more than it
spent on the candidate it was
created to elect.
Citrino did not return a call
from The Caucus. The treasurer
listed on his last campaign-
finance report — father Harry
Citrino Jr. — died in 2015, ac-
cording to an obituary in The
Philadelphia Inquirer.
The younger Citrino hasn’t
filed any reports since, though
other campaigns show Friends
of Harry Citrino has continued
to donate. The committee doled
out a total of $12,000 in 2016
and 2017, including $9,500 to
Stack.
Others who made it to their
coveted elected seats and stayed
there for decades sometimes
have similarly lingering cam-
paign accounts.
Longtime senator and
former Lt. Gov. Bob Jubelirer
retired in 2006; his campaign
raised $1.2 million and spent
$1.5 million that year and had
$49,084 at the end of his term,
according to his campaign-
finance reports.
In the years since, interest
on that bank account has been
— for the most part — the only
reported source of income.
Beneficiaries, meanwhile,
have been candidates both local
and national. Rep. Judy Ward
received $100 last October. U.S.
Sen. Pat Toomey and U.S. House
Speaker Paul Ryan got dona-
tions in 2016.
And with $4,630 left in the
tank, Jubelirer PAC could still
be handing out cash when it
celebrates the 40th anniversary
of its committee registration
next March.
LEGAL-DEFENSE ZOMBIES
There’s another category of
emptying out political com-
mittee accounts that has less to
do with future campaigns and
more to do with cleaning up
before, during or after a legal
battle.
The practice is not rare, said
Noti, from the Campaign Legal
Center.
“It’s common and generally
not problematic to use cam-
paign funds to defend lawsuits
that are related to the person,
certainly to their campaign or
even to something that goes on
in their officeholder capacity,”
Noti said.
The Committee to Elect
Mike Stack is the most recent
and relevant example among
the state’s top officials.
The embattled lieutenant
governor’s political commit-
tee paid the Philadelphia law
firm Montgomery, McCracken,
Walker & Rhoads more than
$80,000 last year while the
Office of Inspector General
investigated his personal use of
state resources.
Despite the payments, his
political-action committee
stated that it still owed $21,000
to the law firm as of December
2017.
Sen. Larry Farnese’s
political-action committee –
Friends of Farnese – has also
paid Montgomery, McCracken,
Walker & Rhoads thousands
of dollars. In January 2017,
Friends of Farnese paid the law
firm $75,000 for “legal fees.”
The following month, the politi-
cal action committee paid the
law firm $31,000 in legal fees
and in June it paid the law firm
another $45,000. Department of
State filings show that Friends
of Farnese still owed $305,890
to the law firm as of January
2017.
Among a slew of investiga-
tions and corruption issues in
recent years, there are likely
many other former lawmakers
and state officials that fall into
the campaign-turned-legal-
fund category.
Former Attorney Gen-
eral Kathleen Kane was found
guilty by a Montgomery Coun-
ty jury of perjury, obstruction
and other crimes on August 15,
2016.
Less than two weeks later,
the Kathleen Kane for Pennsyl-
vania political-action commit-
tee paid Winston and Strawn of
Chicago, Illinois, $157,000 for
“legal services.” In July 2016 the
political committee had already
paid for other legal services —
$50,000 to the Philadelphia
law firm Pietragallo, Gordon,
Alfano, Bosick & Raspanti and
$21,140 to attorney Amil Mi-
nora of Scranton.
Ross Kramer, a partner in
Winston and Strawn’s New York
office, was one of Kane’s trial at-
torneys. Minora was also a trial
attorney, according to court
records.
Kane has appealed her
criminal conviction to the
Pennsylvania Superior Court.
Court records show a decision
is pending. Kane’s law license
has been suspended since
September 2015, according to
the Pennsylvania Disciplinary
Board.
Kane’s campaign-finance re-
ports show her account remains
open, and in debt. In a 2016
report the committee reported
it owed $1,650,000 to Christo-
pher Kane, for a loan he gave
the campaign in 2011.
And she’s not the only con-
victed felon with a functioning
campaign arm, according to the
Department of State records.
Former House Speaker H.
William DeWeese, D-Greene,
was convicted of theft, conspir-
acy and other charges in 2012.
His appeal of the convictions
is currently pending before the
state Supreme Court.
When contacted by The Cau-
cus, he said he didn’t know his
political-action committee, reg-
istered in 1979 as the Campaign
Committee for Bill DeWeese,
had not been terminated.
“Although I prevailed in
three elections subsequent to
Mr. Corbett’s charges being
levied against me – two prima-
ries and a general – my electoral
prospects seemed eminently du-
bious behind seven rows of razor
wire and I subsequently asked
a former campaign
staffer to close out the
account,” he said.
The last campaign
report available
online, from 2014,
shows that DeWeese
gave $3,000 that
was left in the account to
reimburse himself for an
outstanding personal loan.
The ending cash bal-
ance was $630.
 CAPITOL DISPATCHES

9:30 A.M., FEB. 27
HOUSE PROFESSIONAL
LICENSURE COMMITTEE
Room G50, Irvis Office Building
Public hearing on H.B. 1545 from Rep.
Bryan Cutler, the proposed Medical Imaging
and Radiation Therapy Health and Safety
Act. The bill is designed to protect patients
by ensuring that the medical profession-
als operating medical imaging and radia-
tion therapy equipment are appropriately
trained and certified on the equipment.
The legislation would create a board of
examiners, comprised of professionals in
a variety of medical imaging fields, to es-
tablish scope of practice, set requirements
for licensure, and to develop standards
to improve medical imaging and radia-
tion therapy procedures. The legislation
also outlines the requirements for medical
imaging licenses, including fluoroscopy,
diagnostic sonography, radiation therapy,
and radiologist assistant.
10 A.M., FEB. 27
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Room 140, Main Capitol
Budget hearings with the Department
of Corrections, Board of Probation & Parole
and Office of Administration’s Office for
Information Technology.
10 A.M., FEB. 27
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with state-related uni-
versities.
HEARINGS
10 A.M., FEB. 27
HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS &
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
Room 60, East Wing
Informational meeting on the Pennsyl-
vania Emergency Management Agency and
the Office of the State Fire Commissioner
on emergency preparedness initiatives and
legislative goals for the new session.
11 A.M., FEB. 27
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND FINANCE
COMMITTEE
Room 14E, East Wing
Meeting to release reports on sexual
assault evidence collection and the costs to
implement the Right-to-Know Law, and to
update of cost estimates for an alternative
approach to meeting the state’s Chesa-
peake Bay nutrient reduction targets.
1 P. M . , F E B . 2 7
HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS &
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
Room 60, East Wing
Informational meeting on the legislative
initiatives from the following organizations:
Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania;
National Guard associations; Fire and
Emergency Services Institute; Emergency
Health Service Council; Civil Air Patrol; and
Department of Defense Office of Military
Community and Family Policy.
1 P. M . , F E B . 2 7
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the judiciary.
3 P. M . , F E B . 2 7
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Pennsylvania
College of Technology.
4 P. M . , F E B . 2 7
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the inspector
general.
10 A.M., FEB. 28
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Room 140, Main Capitol
Budget hearings with the Department of
General Services, Liquor Control Board and
Department of Military & Veterans Affairs.
10 A.M., FEB. 28
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Department of
Military and Veterans Affairs.
1 P. M . , F E B . 2 8
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Department of
Agriculture.
3 P. M . , F E B . 2 8
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Department of
Conservation & Natural Resources.
9:30 A.M., MARCH 1
HOUSE VETERANS AFFAIRS &
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE
Room 60, East Wing
Informational meeting with officers and
students from the U.S. Army War College’s
Advanced Strategic Art Program.
10 A.M., MARCH 1
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Room 140, Main Capitol
Budget hearings with the Department
of Health, Department of Drug & Alcohol
Programs and Attorney General’s Office on
combating opioids.
10 A.M., MARCH 1
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Department of
Corrections and Board of Probabation &
Parole.
1 P. M . , M A R C H 1
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Pennsylvania
Liquor Control Board.
3 P. M . , M A R C H 1
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Budget hearing with the Department of
Environmental Protection.

FUNDRAISERS
THE
9 A.M., FEB. 27 11 A.M., MARCH 12 5 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 2 8 A.M., MARCH 13
RECEPTION FOR RECEPTION FOR RECEPTION FOR RECEPTION FOR
SEN. TOM KILLION REP. ROB KAUFFMAN REP. AUSTIN DAVIS REP. CAROLYN COMITTA
Harrisburg Hilton
Pennsylvania Rural Electric Stock’s On 2nd

WEEK
Harrisburg Carley’s Ristorante
$500 to $1,000 Association Harrisburg Harrisburg
Harrisburg $250 to $1,000
11:30 A.M., MARCH 4 $300 to $1,000
RECEPTION FOR 8 A.M., MARCH 13

AHEAD
5 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 2 RECEPTION FOR
SEN. JOHN YUDICHAK
11:30 A.M., MARCH 12 WINGS-N-THINGS WITH
Genetti’s REP. JAMES ROEBUCK
Wilkes-Barre RECEPTION FOR REP. BRIAN ELLIS Harrisburg Hilton
$25 to $500 REP. JOE MARKOSEK The Brick Haus Harrisburg
Harrisburg Hilton 10 A.M., FEB. 27
6 P. M . , M A R C H 8 Harrisburg
Harrisburg NATIONAL EATING DISORDER
RECEPTION FOR $300
5 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 3 MONTH
REP. AARON BERNSTINE
4 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 2 RECEPTION FOR Capitol Rotunda
The Crane Room Grille 8 A.M., MARCH 13
SHAMROCK FEST WITH REP. JUSTIN SIMMONS Dr. Rachel Levine, the acting sec-
New Castle
RECEPTION FOR retary of the Department of Health
$50 to $80 REP. TIM HENNESSEY McGrath’s Pub
REP. MIKE CARROLL and Pennsylvania’s physician general,
McGrath’s Pub Harrisburg reads a proclamation from Gov. Tom
8 A.M., MARCH 12 Harrisburg Hilton
RECEPTION FOR Harrisburg $250 to $1,000 Wolf declaring March National Eating
Harrisburg
REP. JOANNA MCCLINTON $350 to $1,000 Disorder Month.
$300 to $1,000
Ridge Policy Group 7:30 A.M., MARCH 14
Harrisburg 5 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 2 3 P. M . , F E B . 2 7
RECEPTION FOR
8 A.M., MARCH 13 AFFORDABLE HOUSING
RECEPTION FOR
9 A.M., MARCH 12 RECEPTION FOR REP. MATT GABLER Capitol Rotunda
REP. GREG ROTHMAN
COOKIE BREAK FOR REP. JIM MARSHALL 500 N. 3rd St. The Pennsylvania Association of
Smigel, Anderson & Sacks Housing & Redevelopment Agencies
REP. JIM COX Harrisburg
Harrisburg 500 N. 3rd St.
500 N. 3rd St. present EveryHome, an event to raise
Harrisburg $250 to $500
Harrisburg $250 to $1,000 awareness of the demand for afford-
$300 to $1,000 $250 to $1,000 able, accessible housing in sustain-
8 A.M., MARCH 14 able communities for low-income
5 : 3 0 P. M . , M A R C H 1 2
11 A.M., MARCH 12 8 A.M., MARCH 13 RECEPTION FOR families, seniors, disabled persons
RECEPTION FOR
RECEPTION FOR REP. JORDAN HARRIS and homeless veterans.
REP. ED GAINEY RECEPTION FOR
REP. KAREN BOBACK
Old Town Deli REP. BRIAN KIRKLAND Café Fresco
500 N. 3rd St.
Harrisburg Harrisburg Stock’s on 2nd Harrisburg
$300 $250 Harrisburg $300 to $1,000

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 THE CAUCUS 9

 THE INTERVIEW

Rep. Frank Ryan comments

during an interview at The
Caucus office in Harrisburg.

NOT GOING FOR BROKE

BLAINE T. SHAHAN FOR THE CAUCUS

Freshman Rep. Frank Ryan’s singular mission in

the Legislature is to keep Pennsylvania from going
bankrupt. The clock is ticking.
» » PAULA KNUDSEN + SAM JANESCH

R
ep. Francis “Frank” Ryan, a freshman Republican, didn’t with existing tax revenues and provide a something that taxpayers should be
higher quality of service. paying for. What I was most concerned
waste time when he got to Harrisburg. He founded and about is — and this sounds a little bit
chairs the Financial Rescue Caucus. THE CAUCUS: You were at the kick- unusual — as a CPA, if there are CPAs in
off House Appropriations hearing. You state government, they might be at risk
A certified public accountant who mand special operations officer during heard Chairman Stan Saylor talk about themselves if we’re approving expenses
specialized in bankruptcy for small and Operation Enduring Freedom. accountability of tax dollars. Are you on that aren’t necessarily appropriate and
mid-sized businesses since 1978, he Ryan is married with four children board with that idea? should have a 1099.
decided he could help sort out the com- and seven grandchildren. RYAN: I’m not a real big believer that
monwealth’s finances. there’s an awful lot of wasted programs. THE CAUCUS: There are several CPAs
Ryan is the author of two books and THE CAUCUS: You were at the House Now there’s some I’m not real crazy in the House, right?
would like to write a third, if the Ethics State Government Committee meet- about. But I do think they’re run pretty RYAN: Yes, there’s six in the House and
Commission gives him the OK. He jokes ing in August where there was a review inefficiently. So I’ll give you an example. one in the Senate
that one of his books, “Revolutionizing of Lt. Gov. Mike Stack’s spending and I’ve done a turnaround of a newspaper.
Accounting for Decision Making,” pub- expenses. Tell us your thoughts on that We looked at some of the internal issues THE CAUCUS: So do you ever get
lished in 2016, has “been endorsed by as a certified public accountant. about the newspaper industry. A lot of together?
the National Sleep Foundation.” RYAN: It is one of the reasons I ran. I’m it had nothing to do with the problem RYAN: All the time. It’s a fun group. Oh
“In case you have insomnia, you read 66 and I went into office at age 65. I’ve in the newspaper industry, it had to do my gosh.
this sucker, you’re out,” he jokes. run previously and lost two congres- with ancillary operations. Like if you
Before he became a legislator and sional races. I did it in 2004 and then don’t buy a new printing press — you do THE CAUCUS: The CPA Caucus?
author, Ryan was a Marine Reserve 2010 and the one in 2010 was close, one every 50 years — don’t be tremen- RYAN: … We all get on very, very well.
colonel. After he retired he was recalled which means that the one in 2004 was dously surprised if it’s not efficient. So We don’t all think alike. We have differ-
to active duty, in December 2004, and not. So I decided to run to help keep we were able to pull out tons of ways ent perspectives.
served with the Multi-National Force- the commonwealth out of bankruptcy. to provide a better quality paper. And I
Iraq, or coalition forces, until June ... I firmly believe — absolutely, firmly believe that for everything. THE CAUCUS: Are all the CPAs Repub-
2005. Prior to his initial retirement in believe — that we can honor every single Going back to governments, Stack’s licans?
2002, Ryan served as the Central Com- obligation that the commonwealth has expenses reports — this is just not RYAN: In this case they are. In the U.S.

10 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018


House of Representatives that’s not the
case.
THE CAUCUS: So you’re running
again?
RYAN: I am. I told everybody it’s going
to take anywhere from two to six years,
two to four years to keep the common-
wealth out of bankruptcy. I’m also now
66, so I’m not interested in a career. I did
not take a pension. I did not take health
insurance. Obviously, because I live so
close, we don’t get per diems. … I’m actu-
ally a little bit ahead of schedule. I had
an eight-step plan under the bankruptcy
prevention plan. And of those I thought
maybe one or two would get approved
in my first term. And I was told none
of them would be and so far we’ve had
three. And so we have more measures
to do. But as I’ve gotten here I’ve kind of
added to the list because there’s more
things broken that I was not aware of.
THE CAUCUS: What is the bankruptcy
protection plan?
RYAN: I call it a “financial rescue plan,”
but for everybody else I talk to, it’s really
designed to keep the commonwealth out
of bankruptcy and it’s a multi-step pro-
cess. And I’ll give you a perfect example:
the cost of children with disabilities. In
2014 I walked across the United States
to raise awareness of the needs of kids
with disabilities. That’s my passion.
And I’ll be honest with you, that’s what
I want to go back to. I want to devote
the rest of my life when this is over with
to do it. But we talked and realized that
there are so many structural failures
in the system that if we don’t fix the
government, the ability to help kids with
disabilities will go away very quickly.
I sponsored a resolution to get the
federal government to pay its 40 percent
required under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act. Now that’s
maximum, I do want to be clear about
that. … I put the resolution in and the
chairperson wouldn’t run it. And he said,
“Frank, I don’t believe in asking the fed-
eral government to do things. That’s not
our job.” I said, “You’re right, but I need
to get to Congress to understand this is
a bipartisan group.” He said, “Well, why
don’t you just print it out as a letter and
get members to sign it.” (Ryan obtained
161 signatures and met almost every
member of the House in the process.)
THE CAUCUS: How do you see your
military service informing your public
service in government? What lessons
did you learn in the military that you
end up using here?
RYAN: There is a discipline that we are
taught in the military that you should
not be judgmental. My son Matt is an
ardent Democrat. And we should be
teaching each other to question. The
military is very, very good about – and
they haven’t always been, by the way —
teaching our leadership principles to
stop judging people. My faith tells me
to do that, too, by the way, to not judge
people.
But we have to really look at what
will solve the problem. And I think that’s
probably one of the biggest problems
that I’ve run into since I’ve been here.
No Child Left Behind — we left all these
children behind. But try voting against
it. Yet it was probably one of the better
things to vote against. The PATRIOT
Act. I’m a retired Marine. Worst piece
THE INTERVIEW
of legislation I’ve ever seen in my entire
life and we’re seeing the effects of that
today.
If we got all this legislation of my
financial rescue plan passed next year, I
will be out of the House of Representa-
tives by the end of my term. I got done
what I needed to get done. At that point
it’s like, I don’t have any aspirations
for higher office and I’m 66. But I will
tell you this: we have two to four years
before which, if we don’t solve these
problems, the financial solutions to
keep the commonwealth out of bank-
ruptcy are so severe that nobody in the
Legislature would agree to the changes.
And I mean that. I believe there’s a legal
responsibility to pay your taxes. But I
believe my responsibility goes beyond
the legal. It’s a moral and ethical respon-
sibility. And I believe I have the financial
expertise. ... In this budget, I believe we
are $1.5 billion short of what we should
be paying. There’s a thing called the ARC
— the actuarially required contribution.
There’s no such term in actuary science.
The required contributions are about
$1.5 billion more than we plan on doing
now and I have a problem with that.
THE CAUCUS: So two to four years
until bankruptcy?
RYAN: No, I apologize. It might have
come across that way. Two to four years
until the solutions to our problems
are so severe that no one will agree. It
will take 12 years to go bankrupt. As an
example, Puerto Rico went bankrupt
formally on May 3, 2017. And the crisis
had been brewing. We all knew it 15
years ago. There’s a common perception
that a state can’t go bankrupt and that’s
actually accurate. However the U.S.
Senate and House of Representatives in
concert with President Obama spon-
sored a thing called PROMESA. And
what PROMESA does is allow Puerto
Rico to go bankrupt and then the presi-
dent, President Obama, appointed a
three-person panel overseen by a judge
and then the hurricane hit. And I know
many people have angst about President
Trump. But one of the things I think that
he did that was the right thing. Now I’m
putting on my bankruptcy hat. He said,
“Look, we just need to forgive that debt.”
All of us, the big venture firms that had
it. The crisis is so severe after the hur-
ricane that we just need to all step up to
the plate and help Puerto Rico recover.
And many people can’t stand hearing me
say that, and I get it. But if you don’t, it
will never recover. I’ve been in seven na-
tions in my life that have collapsed eco-
nomically. And once you start that death
spiral, then you can’t fix it. We’ve got to
be more merciful and compassionate.
THE CAUCUS: Other than Puerto
Rico, are there any other states that you
view as being in as bad of a condition as
Pennsylvania? .
RYAN: I will tell you that Illinois is
probably as bad as Puerto Rico. Illinois
has only staved off bankruptcy, predom-
inantly Chicago, because of emergency
funding that was provided by President
Obama and President Trump.
THE CAUCUS: But we’re not quite to
Illinois’ level yet?
RYAN: No. I think Connecticut is ahead
of us. I think New Jersey is. And you
know why Connecticut is, right? The
way the finances are run with Con-
necticut is they raised the income taxes
significantly. And so General Electric
Medical decided to move from Con-
necticut to Massachusetts and much of
that was tax-driven. That turned out to
be like a $500 million dollar hit to Con-
necticut. And they’re such a small state
that it would bankrupt the state. It really
would. New Jersey is really struggling.
And then I think we’re on par with New
“
Jersey. I think in 12 years, if we don’t
start solving these problems, we’re done.
We can’t keep throwing the taxes on
(younger people).
THE CAUCUS: How many years did
you focus just on bankruptcy?
RYAN: Since 1978. I’m probably one of
the leading experts of bankruptcy for
We have two small to mid-sized companies. That’s my
forte.
to four years
THE CAUCUS: Do you still handle any
before which, if private clients’ cases?
RYAN: I do not. With this job it’s too
we don’t solve demanding. I still lecture to CPAs occa-
sionally because I have to keep my CPA
these problems, license current. ... There’s only a few
of us who are CPAs who have kept our
the financial licenses current.
solutions to keep THE CAUCUS: Going back to lavish
state spending, such as on high-priced
the commonwealth meals, or travel, do you think someone
at the state level is checking on the ex-
out of bankruptcy penditures?
RYAN: ... I’m not a real big believer in
‘gotcha’ moments with people. I think
are so severe Mike Stack is a decent guy. I just think
somebody should tell him, “By the way,
that nobody in if someone complains to the Internal
Revenue Service, you might have a
the Legislature problem.” But there’s also a CPA who is
doing the state work that’s paying him,
would agree to equally at risk. I was part of the team
that changed the ethics standards for
the changes. And I CPAs. So let me give you an example.
Mary Jo Mullen, the comptroller of the
mean that. House, is one of my students. And Mary
Jo is — there’s an expression I use, it’s
REP. FRANK RYAN probably not even a real word — called
“pluperfect.” You can’t get anything by
her. And she said, “My goal is to keep
you out of trouble and safeguard the
state’s assets.” And she’s also an attor-
ney. She’s a brilliant attorney ... and so I
was the chair of the Ethics Committee
for the Pennsylvania Institute of Certi-
fied Public Accountants for a year. ...
We also helped write the standards on
ethics. And it was very, very clear with
us. We said our responsibility is to be
independent. I’m not supposed to have
a Republican viewpoint or a Democrat
view. ... So had Mike Stack been a Repub-
lican lieutenant governor, I would have
made the exact same comment. It’s just
about the money.
The one thing I don’t like about
being up here is a lot of this stuff is de-
signed to see who we can get in trouble.
That’s the exact opposite of what I want
to do. We passed a bill that said that
any auditor general audit recommen-
dations that are not acted upon in 120
days the auditor general would refer
back to the appropriations commit-
tees and to the governor, and then we
have the right to suspend their appro-
priation until they comply. That was
$812 million the first year. In my mind
someone said to me, “Well, that’s low-
hanging fruit.” And I said, “I pray to
God we don’t ever think of $812 million
as low-hanging fruit.”
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 T H E C A U C U S 11
 COMMENTARY

FLICKR

12 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018


ROCKY BARLETTA?
ROCKY BARLETTA?
The Republican trying to take away Bob Casey’s
Senate seat is fighting in a more competitive weight
class – without the experience or money.
Will he suffer a TKO?
» » G. TERRY MADONNA + MICHAEL L. YOUNG
I
f politics is a science, it is a science of probabilities, not cer-
tainties. “President” Hillary Clinton could probably elaborate
on that, as could the late “President” Tom Dewey.
This is not to say there are no cer-
tainties in politics. One is the calendar.
Pennsylvania and 33 other states on
Nov. 6 will hold a U.S. Senate election,
one that almost certainly will help de-
termine which party controls Congress
during the last two years of President
Trump’s term in office.
Another near certainty is that
the major party nominees will be
Democratic incumbent Bob Casey and
retiring Republican Congressman Lou
Barletta. Casey’s a two-term senator
who has no serious opposition within
the Democratic Party while Barletta
overwhelmingly won the endorsement
of his Republican Party.
Finally, we can be sure the Pennsyl-
vania Senate race will be perceived as a
proxy war between Trump supporters
and his opponents. No fiercer critic of
Trump serves in the Senate than Casey,
and there has been no more loyal or
enthusiastic supporter of Trump than
Barletta.
Casey routinely criticizes Trump for
many of his policies. Barletta, who co-
chaired Trump’s race in Pennsylvania,
was the early face of immigration poli-
cies Trump later adopted.
Who might win this looming contest
between two candidates who could not be
more different? Answering that takes us
squarely into the realm of political prob-
abilities, where numerous historical and
political antecedents prefigure the race.
COMMENTARY
READING TEA LEAVES
Collectively, these antecedents sug-
gest that Barletta, indeed, has a high
hill to climb to defeat Casey – although
it would be foolish to predict either an
easy or certain victory for the incum-
bent. Barletta, who hails from Hazleton,
is no Rocky Balboa-like political pugilist,
and he has no bronze statue sitting off
the steps of the Philadelphia Museum
of Art.
But Rocky could well be Barletta’s
campaign avatar as he begins an epic
struggle to unseat Casey, who has run
statewide five times for three separate
offices in the past 15 years, winning
all of them in a landslide. Casey’s 2018
candidacy marks the 15th time his
family name has appeared on a state
ballot over the course of the past six
decades.
Hard statistical probabilities lead
the list of challenges confronting Bar-
letta. For more than a century, the re-
election rate for incumbent senators
of the party not in the White House is
91 percent. Statistically speaking, that
makes Barletta’s chances of beating
Casey about nine percent. The well-
established “midterm effect” holds
that the party whose president occu-
pies the White House struggles to win
congressional races; Casey’s incum-
bency and name certainly don’t help
Barletta’s chances.
DRAGGED DOWN BY TRUMP
The Republican also faces other
challenges. One of these is Trump. The
congressman has embraced the presi-
dent so fiercely that the race will inevi-
tably be seen as a personal referendum
on Trump and his policies.
Trump’s current anemic approval
rating means Barletta may have trouble
expanding his base beyond core Trump
supporters. Even worse, Barletta is
most known for his hard-line position
on immigration, a position greatly at
odds with swing and independent state
voters.
IN THE BIG LEAGUES
Organizational challenges also con-
front the Barletta campaign. Barletta
has never had a tough race nor has he
ever run statewide in a state of 8.5 mil-
lion registered voters living in six major
media markets. By entering the race, he
is moving from the minor leagues to the
majors, becoming a “rookie” in a state
that has been tough on rookies aspiring
to the Senate.
Money also looks problematic for
Barletta. Casey already has about 10
times more cash on hand, $5.5 million.
And it’s going to be an expensive race.
The 2016 U.S. Senate contest in Penn-
sylvania topped $175 million, setting a
national record.
Barletta has little experience in rais-
ing these large sums. To do better, he has
to attract Republican national campaign
funders to his cause — and to do that he
must demonstrate the ability to raise
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
more funds. That will not be easy. Com-
petitive races abound across the country
and Barletta must look like a winner to
attract his share of campaign contribu-
tions.
All of this paints a dreary picture for
the Barletta candidacy. He is likely to
lose. But likely to lose is not certainty
that he will.
PLAYING THE ODDS
Trump’s approval ratings are show-
ing a modest upward tick nationally,
which could continue into the Novem-
ber election. Certainly, he will cam-
paign for Barletta and it is not yet clear
whether Trump helps or hurts on the
campaign trail.
Moreover, the now-elusive money
will flow into Barletta’s coffers if he gains
momentum. Rookie or no, he might turn
out to be a great campaigner.
If any or all of these things happen,
this race could end up an old fashioned
Pennsylvania nailbiter.
The probabilities are that it won’t.
The certainty is that it could.
G. Terry Madonna is a professor of
public affairs at Franklin & Marshall
College in Lancaster. Michael L. Young
is a former professor of politics and
public affairs at Penn State University
and managing partner of Michael Young
Strategic Research. Madonna and Young
encourage responses to the column and
can be reached, respectively, at terry. ma-
donna@fandm.edu and drmikelyoung@
comcast.net.
T H E C A U C U S 13

THIS WEEK IN PA HISTORY
Excerpts of noteworthy, newsworthy and just plain odd political news
1
Y E A R AG O
Holder, Dems target
Pa., swing-state districts
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER
launched a Democratic coalition in late February 2017
designed to undo a “rigged political process” — redistrict-
ing — that helped Republicans sweep into congressional
and legislative offices after the 2010 census. Among the
group’s focus were races for governor in Ohio and Penn-
sylvania, where they aimed to “set new precedents for how
redistricting must occur nationally,” according to The Asso-
ciated Press. “The will of the people, I think, has ultimately
been frustrated — both at the state level and at the federal
level,” Holder said.
238 Y E A R S AG O
Legislature passes
anti-slavery act
THE PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY PASSED “AN
Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery” on March 1, 1780,
a milestone that underscored the influence of both Quaker
abolitionism and the strength of the radical press in end-
ing slavery. The preamble of the act, authored in part by
Thomas Paine, states: “It is not for us to enquire, why, in
the Creation of Mankind, the Inhabitants of the several
parts of the Earth, were distinguished by a difference in
Feature or Complexion. It is sufficient to know that all are
the Work of an Almighty Hand, We find in the distribu-
tion of the human Species, that the most fertile, as well as
the most barren parts of the Earth are inhabited by Men
of Complexions different from ours and from each other,
from whence we may reasonably as well as religiously infer,
that he, who placed them in their various Situations, hath
extended equally his Care and Protection to all, and that it
becometh not us to counteract his Mercies.” The authors
called on the government to extend liberty and indepen-
dence to the enslaved, writing: “We conceive that it is our
duty, and we rejoice that it is in our Power, to extend a Por-
tion of that freedom to others, which hath been extended
to us.”
14 T H E C A U C U S Tuesday, February 27, 2018
POLITICAL HISTORY
16
Y E A R S AG O
Gekas not amused
by ‘gotcha story’
PERHAPS IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A HUMOROUS WAKE-
up call for U.S. Rep. George W. Gekas, but the veteran
lawmaker wasn’t laughing in March 2002. Roll Call had
reported that Gekas skipped out on a luncheon with Penn-
sylvania Gov. Mark Schweiker and was seen in Washington
later that day napping in his car. A spokesman for Gekas
called it a “gotcha story” meant to make the congress-
man look bad, but admitted Gekas was sleeping. He said
Gekas had been fighting an upper respiratory infection for
close to a week, was taking a cocktail of medicines and
was under the care of the Capitol Hill physician. Reached
in Harrisburg, Gekas said that when he first read the story
he thought it was funny, but then wondered, “What were
they doing around my car?” He explained he arrived in
Washington ahead of schedule that afternoon and decided
to “relax in the car for a few minutes. I put my head back
to perk up.”
252 Y E A R S AG O
Franklin argues against
Stamp Act; levy repealed
THE BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS, WHICH HAD EXAM-
ined witnesses including Benjamin Franklin over the course
of three days in 1766, repealed the Stamp Act amid steep
colonial opposition in March of that year. The year-old
Stamp Act had imposed a tax on newspapers, deeds, ships
manifests and legal documents. Franklin appeared before
the House Committee of the Whole in his capacity as dep-
uty postmaster general of America under the Crown and
an agent of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Testifying
before the House of Commons, Franklin was asked: “Do
not you think the people of America would submit to pay
the stamp duty, if it was moderated?” His reply: “No, never,
unless compelled by force of arms.”
82
Y E A R S AG O
Last ‘wounded heart’
case goes to trial
MEMBERS OF AN ALL-MALE JURY IN LANCASTER
County tilted back their chairs and watched Pennsylva-
nia’s last “wounded heart” case go to trial in March 1936.
A 33-year-old widow had gotten in just under the wire
with her appeal for a $5,000 “heart balm” from a local
auto mechanic who allegedly broke off their engagement.
Shortly after the woman had filed her case, the Legislature
outlawed further lawsuits for breach of promise of mar-
riage. The woman alleged that the broken engagement left
her solely responsible for the costs of a washing machine,
a saxophone and dental repairs purchased or undertaken
with the expectation of marriage. The jury awarded her
$100.
337Y E A R S AG O
William Penn gets
Charter to Pa.
WILLIAM PENN, A QUAKER SEEKING THE FREEDOM TO
worship as he wished, received a charter on March 4, 1681,
for a tract of land west of New Jersey, north of Maryland
and south of New York that King Charles II had initially
granted to his brother, the duke of York. This “seed of the
nation,” Penn wrote, was Pennsylvania. “Penn wanted
his Pennsylvania to be a land where people of differing
languages and customs could live together, where men and
women could worship as they pleased, where men could
participate fully in their government. Such a land, Penn be-
lieved, would indeed be blessed,” wrote Lehigh University
history professor Jean R. Soderlund in “William Penn and
the Founding of Pennsylvania.”
FROM LEFT Former U.S. Attorney General
Eric Holder, former U.S. Rep. George Gekas,
former Gov. Mark Schweiker, Thomas Paine,
Benjamin Franklin and William Penn.
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