Pa. paid at least $3.2M to settle sex harassment claims

Liz Navratil & Angela Couloumbis report for the Philadelphia Inquirer:


HARRISBURG — State officials have paid at least $3.2 million in taxpayer funds in the last eight years to resolve more than two dozen sexual harassment complaints against government and public employees, according to an analysis by the Inquirer and Daily News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.


Much of the money went to pay settlements and legal fees for complaints filed in courts around the state involving legislators and workers in the executive branch, row offices, the courts, and universities in the State System of Higher Education. The allegations ranged from inappropriate jokes to exposure to pornography and sexual assault. In some cases, employees claimed they were retaliated against for reporting the behavior.


That amount reflects the most complete picture to date of state taxpayer-funded payouts, which are often made quietly and which have become a source of controversy in the Capitol as the #MeToo movement has ensnared a growing number of public figures.


The newspapers compiled the data using court records and documents obtained under the state’s Right-to-Know Act. A number of similar requests are still being processed by some independent state agencies, which could drive up the total cost.


In all, the analysis shows, at least 37 cases involving sexual harassment claims have been resolved since 2010 — some did not include a financial settlement. Six cases are pending, and the status of one case could not be determined.

Most of the money paid — at least $2.8 million — went toward settling cases involving employees of departments that report to the governor or the State System of Higher Education. The data cover cases resolved in the last eight years, under Govs. Ed Rendell and Tom Corbett as well as Gov. Wolf. The acts that spurred some cases, however. date back to before 2010.


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Trump continues to choose dirty energy over clean energy

Solar panel installation on home

 Photographer: Sam Hodgson/Bloomberg

White House seeks 72 percent cut to clean energy research, underscoring administration’s preference
for fossil fuels


Chris Mooney and Steven Mufson in the Washington Post:


The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019, according to draft budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.


Many of the sharp cuts would likely be restored by Congress, but President Trump’s budget due out in February will mark a starting point for negotiations and offer a statement of intent and policy priorities.


The document underscores the administration’s continued focus on the exploitation of fossil fuel resources — or as Trump put it in his State of the Union address, “beautiful clean coal” — over newer renewable technologies seen as a central solution to the problem of climate change.


The Energy Department had asked the White House for more modest spending reductions for the renewable and efficiency programs, but people familiar with the process, who asked for anonymity to share unfinished budget information, said that the Office of Management and Budget insisted on the deeper cuts.


The cuts would also be deeper than those the Trump administration sought for the current fiscal year, but was unable to implement because of the budget impasse in Congress. The federal government has been operating on a series of continuing resolutions that have maintained existing spending. The current continuing resolution expires Feb. 8.


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Ocean Resort, Hard Rock casinos plan internet gambling

Wayne Parry reports for the Associated Press


ATLANTIC CITY — New Jersey’s thriving internet gambling market is about to get bigger.


The two new casinos due to open this summer plan to offer internet gambling.


The Ocean Resort Casino, which formerly operated as Revel, and the Hard Rock casino, which is the former Trump Taj Mahal, have applied for licenses to conduct online gambling in New Jersey.


If approved by state gambling regulators, they would bring to seven the number of Atlantic City casino companies that offer internet gambling.


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Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear soda tax case

Laura McCrystal reports for Philly.com:


The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will consider the legality of Philadelphia’s tax on soda and other sweetened beverages, giving fresh hope to opponents of the controversial levy.


The court said it would hear the American Beverage Association and other local businesses’ appeal of a Commonwealth Court decision last year to uphold the controversial tax. The rest of the country will be watching the outcome. Philadelphia became the first major U.S. city to pass a tax on soda in 2016, and a number of other cities have since considered or implemented similar taxes.


Justices will weigh whether the 1.5-cent-per-ounce levy amounts to a double tax. Pennsylvania law prohibits the city from imposing a levy on something already taxed by the state. The tax is imposed on distributors, but lawyers representing the beverage industry and local retailers argued that the levy is being passed on to consumers, who already pay sales tax.


Supreme Court Justice Kevin Dougherty,  younger brother of John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, business manager for Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, recused himself from the case. He was elected to the high court in 2015 with help from Local 98, and John Dougherty has been a vocal supporter of Mayor Kenney and the city’s beverage tax. Kevin Dougherty also received more than $50,000 in campaign contributions from local soda mogul Harold Honickman, an opponent of the tax.


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Lots of Energy and Enviro Action Feb. 5 in NJ Legislature

New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney

When a bill is introduced by the Senate President its a sure sign that fast action lies ahead. That is the case for two bills sponsored by Steve Sweeney that, within a month have cleared committee and are in place for a Senate floor vote on Monday, February 5.

By Frank Brill
EnviroPolitics Editor


S611 / S874 (Sweeney/Smith/Bateman) – Requires State’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This is the often-vetoed bête noire of former Gov. Chris Christie. Opposed by the fossil fuel industry and heavy electricity users, it would bring the state back into compact of seven northeastern states that seek to discourage industrial carbon dioxide emissions–that contribute to climate change–by taxing their emission levels at energy plants. Revenue from the RGGI tax has provided millions for energy efficiency and other environmental projects in participating states. The sponsors need not worry about a gubernatorial veto this time. Gov. Phil Murphy this week signed an executive order that puts RGGI reentry into motion. 


The second bill sponsored by Senate President Sweeney is
S877. It establishes a ‘Nuclear Diversity Certificate program.’ You may have no idea what that benign term means but we bet you’ll recognize its more popular description: ‘rate subsidies (or bale-outs) for PSEG’s three southern New Jersey nuclear plants.’ This bill failed on a Hail Mary pass- attempt in the final hours of the previous session but has been reintroduced under a new number and with some concessions that seek to limit the ferocity of the opposition. 


Other less luminary bills up for Senate votes Monday include:

S1057 (Van Drew) – Requires EDA, in consultation with Department of Agriculture, to establish loan program for certain vineyard and winery capital expenses.

S1082 (Cruz-Perez / Singleton) – Provides tax credits to vineyards and wineries for qualified capital expenses.

S1083 (Cruz-Perez / Gopal) – Establishes loan program and provides corporation business tax and gross income tax credits for establishment of new vineyards and wineries. 


Meanwhile in committee


The Senate Environment and Energy Committee meets on Monday at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 10, 3rd Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, NJ. and will consider:

S71 (Singleton) – Prohibits dumping dredge spoils on and around certain islands without municipal approval.

S74 (Singleton) – Requires DEP to establish maximum contaminant level for 1,2,3-trichloropropane in drinking water.

S534 (Oroho / Sarlo) – Excludes corrugated containers sold by the manufacturer from definition of “litter-generating product”; exempts such sales from user fee imposed under “Clean Communities Program Act.”

S601 (Smith) – Requires end-of-life recycling of solar and photovoltaic energy generation facilities and structures.

S879 (Sweeney) – Amends definition of “existing major hazardous waste facility” in “Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act.”

S1074 (Smith / Bateman) – Provides for protection of public’s rights under public trust doctrine. You might not know it from the description but this is a beach-access bill that addresses the thorny issue of private-property-owner rights vs. the rights of John Q. Public to walk alongside Richie Rich’s beachfront mansion to get to the surf. 

SR29 (Sarlo / Bateman) – Opposes expansion of oil and natural gas drilling on Outer Continental Shelf. President Trump wants to make Big Oil bigger still by allowing gas and oil exploration off the Jersey coast (and other eastern states as well, except maybe the one with Mar a Lago). This bill doesn’t take kindly to the move.


Lest we forget the Assembly
Before all the scheduled action listed above takes place:NJ Assembly’s Environment Committee to meet on Feb. 1


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