Saturday, February 5, 2011

State House Majority Whip 'giddy' with GOP majority

State Rep. Stan Saylor of York County, who serves as the Majority Whip in the state House of Representatives, said he is "giddy" that the GOP now has a lock on the governor's office, the Senate and the House.

His remarks came as the keynote speaker at the Lincoln Day Dinner, an annual event held by the Elizabethtown Area Republican Committee. This year's event was held Saturday, Feb. 5, in the Susquehanna Room of Elizabethtown College.

In November, the GOP reclaimed majorities in the state legislature and won the governor's office. Thanks to the win, Saylor said, the party is going "to turn Pennsylvania upside down" by reforming government.

"We have the guts, and we have the courage, to change what Pennsylvania is all about," Saylor said.

One of the specifics he mentioned was welfare reform, explaining that Republicans plan to require anyone convicted of a felony who is receiving welfare to be tested for drugs. If a test comes back positive, that person will automatically lose 25 percent of his welfare, Saylor said. A second positive test would mean the loss of 50 percent of welfare benefits.

Saylor also said the GOP wants to institute "performance budgeting," meaning that state agencies would have goals to achieve. If they they meet the goals, they might get more than "2 or 3 percent increase," Saylor said.

"There's a new day in Harrisburg," he said. "There's a new sheriff, and it's the Republican party."

The Lincoln Day Dinner was a who's who of Lancaster County Republican candidates, all of whom are seeking re-election or are running for office: incumbent Commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey, District Attorney Craig Stedman, Acting Sheriff Mark Reese, Clerk of Courts candidate Joshua Parsons and judicial candidates Leonard G. Brown III and Merrill Spahn Jr.

Personally, I had a chance to meet and talk to Parsons, Brown and Spahn. And I met Martin in person for the first time after following him on Twitter for several months. Here's his Twitter profile, and here's a link to mine

In addition, a number of Elizabethtown Area School Board members attended the dinner, as did Borough Council President Phil Clark and West Donegal Township Supervisor Roger Snyder.

5 comments:

  1. I have really appreciated your "Chronicling Elizabethtown" until I read today's entry about the Lincoln Day Dinner, which had no direct connection with what's going on here in Elizabethtown. While I am glad that you had a chance to attend the dinner, I would call your attention to your own phrase: "Taking a look at what's going on in Elizabethtown, Pa., from the perspective of one member of Elizabethtown Borough Council." Today's entry fell far from that goal. I hope you will adhere to your own guideline in future.

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  2. Point taken. That said, I am trained as a reporter, and any time the state House Majority Whip speaks in your town, it's news and worthy of being reported.

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  3. When will the train station be finished?

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  4. Sorry for the delay in responding. We expect the station to be finished very soon -- this month or next. The additional parking where the freight station is located is still in the works, but the project as conceived originally will be done soon.

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  5. Thanks for the train station info, Jeff. I hope there will be some kind of "grand opening" ceremony.

    On a somewhat related subject, I'm glad to see that my congressman, Tim Holden, voted against reducing Amtrak funding by nearly $447 million. Sadly, Rep. Pitts was one of only 3 PA congressmen to vote "yes." America needs transportation alternatives, like the hydro-electric powered trains that serve Elizabethtown.

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