Editorials from around Pennsylvania

Editorials from around Pennsylvania:

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SESSIONS’ DRUG-WAR APPROACH A RETURN TO MADNESS, May 21

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ re-arming of the nation’s “war on drugs” isn’t just bad policy, it’s an assault on sensibility.

Recently Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to resume charging drug offenders with the most serious crimes possible, increasing the chances they’ll receive mandatory minimum sentences.

This tactic succeeded in boosting the number of nonviolent drug offenders in prison, from 50,000 in 1980 to about 400,000 today. During the Obama administration former Attorney General Eric Holder gave prosecutors more latitude to avoid charges that would trigger mandatory minimums.

Today conservatives are joining with liberals in recognizing that a combination of drug education, preventive programs, drug courts and rehab are vital alternatives to incarceration of low-level offenders. Building and staffing more prisons is a huge drain on the taxpayer - not to mention a waste of lives that might be resurrected through drug treatment.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania are among the states that have gotten that message, instituting treatment programs and well-publicized approaches to a painkiller/heroin epidemic. Last week Northampton County’s drug court congratulated several participants who were spared long jail terms, completed treatment and will have an opportunity to begin anew.

So why hasn’t that message found its way to the White House and the Justice Department? Sessions is a former U.S. attorney in Alabama who made his name not just endorsing, but effecting, harsh sentences. Those outcomes are justified for violent criminals and the worst recidivists - we’re not talking about backtracking on that.

The “throw-away-the-key” mentality also ensnares persons guilty of drug possession or minor transactions - often subjecting them to long jail terms without access to rehab. It’s no secret that drug prosecutions and mandatory-minimums target minority populations disproportionately.

It’s heartening to see a bipartisan group of senators pushing back against the attorney general. Last week Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and others introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act, to give federal judges discretion to impose lesser sentences for nonviolent crimes. The bill has attracted a wide range of support, from the Koch brothers to the American Civil Liberties Union.

“We should be treating our nation’s drug epidemic for what it is — a public health crisis, not an excuse to send people to prison and turn a mistake into a tragedy,” Paul wrote in an op-ed for CNN. “And make no mistake, the lives of many drug offenders are ruined the day they receive that long sentence the attorney general wants them to have.”

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., tweeted his support: “DOJ should focus on prosecuting violent criminals, not nonviolent drug offenders. We must reform our criminal justice system.” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., also has spoken up for sentencing reform.

Doubling-down on Draconian policies that do little to deter drug use is itself a sign of intoxication - to a “war” that victimizes Americans as much as it helps them. Let this Senate bill set the stage for a practical, multi-dimensional approach to increasing drug use in the U.S. - from incremental acceptance of marijuana to countering an opioid crisis that is destroying lives and feeding related crime. The first step is breaking an addiction to locking up drug users and building more prisons.

__Easton Express Times

Online:

https://bit.ly/2qcvGs9

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PENNSYLVANIANS CAN’T WAIT FOR CLEAN WATER. THE STATE MUST ACT NOW, May 19

When you turn on the kitchen faucet at home, you count on a couple of things:

First, that the water will flow freely. And second, that it’s going to be clean and safe for you and your family to drink.

But for residents of the tiny borough of Zelienople in Butler County, that basic social compact didn’t apply for years.

In 1998, after a drought shut off its primary water source, the borough began drawing water from the polluted Connoquenessing Creek, which ranks only second to the Mississippi River in toxic chemical dumping.

As PennLive’s Wallace McKelvey laid out this week in chilling detail, high nitrate levels in the creek led to advisories against pregnant women and children drinking from their taps.

The nitrates, which were later traced to a nearby steel plant, can impact human metabolism and starve the brain of oxygen. Young children and fetuses are the most vulnerable to nitrate poisoning, McKelvey reported.

That went on for two years, with the state unaware of the problem. Finally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stepped in, ordering a steel plant to pay for an alternate water source.

In 2002, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General issued a report on failed oversight at the federal and state level that contributed to the crisis, McKelvey reported.

Now, the state is scrambling to increase the number of inspectors statewide and enact new regulations to prevent the Zelienople incident - or more recent lead contaminations in Pittsburgh and Flint, Michigan - from happening again.

As McKelvey points out, unless Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled General Assembly step in, DEP’s proposed solution won’t result in fully trained inspectors on the ground until 2021.

And that’s the best-case scenario - because even the slightest push back under the Capitol dome could result in a delay of months or years.

Right now, the DEP is seeking regulatory approval to impose a $7.5 million fee package to be paid for by water utilities across the state that would bolster the ranks of water inspectors and beef up safety.

This process will take entirely too long. State government can solve that problem by simply boosting DEP’s budget for safe drinking water inspections. That would put inspectors on the ground well before 2021.

Yes, it’s possible that utilities could turn around and pass some of this negligible cost to their customers. Or taxpayers could be asked to pay more because of the increased budget appropriation.

But consumers, the industry, and lawmakers need to ask themselves this:

What is the more pressing need? A few pennies on your water bill? Or an unsafe drinking supply that puts public health at risk?

And there’s no guarantee that more inspectors would prevent another Zelienople - that’s what other proposed rule changes are designed to do.

But without them, we won’t know what could be going wrong. And there’s no excuse for allowing Pennsylvanians to drink contaminated water.

Because the Pennsylvania Constitution is absolutely unambiguous about state government’s responsibility in this instance.

Article 1, Section 27 of the foundational document reads:

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic, and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all of the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

And lest you think that’s just flowery verbiage, a 2013 state Supreme Court ruling gave the amendment some real teeth:

“The right delineated in the first clause of Section 27 presumptively is on par with, and enforceable to the same extent as, any other right reserved to the people in Article 1,” the court held.

Those other rights, by the way, include the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness; it includes freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury and the right to bear arms.

Looming above all this is the threat by the EPA to take over drinking water enforcement if the state fails to act.

In budget after budget, lawmakers have found a way to slip in sweeteners and funding for favored causes back home, including the creation of taxing zones enabling the construction of baseball and hockey stadiums.

If lawmakers and the administration can find the money for pork barrel projects, they can find the money for guaranteeing the constitutional right to clean water.

Anything else is an absolute abdication of their collective responsibility.

__Pennlive.com

Online:

https://bit.ly/2qXeBiK

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PREPARING FUTURE GRADUATES FOR THE WORKFORCE, May 22

With high school graduation season approaching, the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce last week passed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act with unanimous support from Democrats and Republicans. The legislation, of which Republican Rep. Lloyd Smucker is an original co-sponsor, aims to help young people develop the skills and knowledge they need to compete for good-paying jobs.

Many of the thousands of students who will graduate from Lancaster County high schools in the next several weeks already have their paths charted - at least in the short term - whether it’s to a four-year college, a two-year institution or directly into the working world.

But for future graduates, here’s something to think about: American companies are in dire need of skilled workers because there are not enough qualified applicants.

Evidence of this demand exceeding supply is right here in Lancaster County.

Speaking at his school’s commencement earlier this month, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology President William E. Griscom said 1,152 companies came to campus this year to recruit 415 graduates - the largest class in Stevens’ history - for 2,552 jobs.

These students, who make $50,000 to $60,000 a year upon graduating, are “just desperately needed,” Griscom said.

Which is why the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act, which seeks to close this persistent gap between skilled jobs and qualified applicants to fill them, has drawn overwhelming bipartisan support.

“Rep. Smucker hosted a conference call with CTE schools in the district, including Thaddeus Stevens. (The college) expressed a desire to expand opportunities and programs for students, and this bill will help them do that,” Smucker’s communications director, Bill Jaffee, wrote to LNP in an email.

The bill, which reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, was introduced by Pennsylvania Republican G.T. Thompson and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi.

As a release from the Education and the Workforce Committee states, “Congress has enacted reforms to improve K-12 education and modernize the nation’s workforce development system. However, more must be done to help all Americans access the education they need to earn a lifetime of success.”

Because the Perkins Act hasn’t been updated in more than a decade, according to the committee, “it no longer reflects the realities and challenges facing students and workers. Current policies restrict the ability of state leaders to invest federal resources in efforts that prioritize economic growth and local needs.”

Among other things, the bill simplifies the application process for receiving federal funds and provides greater flexibility to use federal resources in responding to evolving needs.

It also “improves alignment with in-demand jobs by supporting innovative learning opportunities, building better community partnerships, and encouraging stronger engagement with employers,” the committee states.

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the legislation during his weekly press conference, saying, “This will make it easier to connect people with the skills they need to get good-paying, in-demand jobs.”

After the bill passed the committee, according to a press release from his office, Rep. Smucker said: “I have my own experience with nontraditional education. I took college courses at night while operating a small construction company during the day. It’s important we accommodate the needs of many different types of students that are ready to learn and willing to work.

“… This bill will help (local state and education) leaders align their priorities based on the specific needs of their students. I am proud to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance this important bill.”

It’s good to know that on this issue, Republican and Democratic members of the House are collaborating on doing the people’s business - even with everything else that’s been going on in the nation’s capital.

So at least when it comes to recognizing the importance of preparing the graduates of tomorrow for skilled jobs, the federal government is working.

__LNP (Lancaster Online)

Online:

https://bit.ly/2rAKZuv

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FILLING THE TROUGH, May 23

Whether the GOP Congress has the determination to “drain the swamp” - or simply grow blooms of algae - will become clear as it tackles the next massive, market-perverting farm bill, the current version of which is set to expire in September 2018.

Battle lines already are being drawn over preserving (or reforming) this massive legislation. The Congressional Budget Office projected that the current version will cost $489 billion. And for good reason a coalition of 15 conservative/free market groups is pressing for the following commonsense reforms:

__ Eliminate “interventionist policies” that disrupt market forces.

__ Limit risk-related farm assistance for “uncontrollable natural events,” such as severe weather.

__ And scotch farm programs that specifically benefit special interests over other producers, consumers and industries.

To this list we would add our prior admonition to separate all nutrition programs from the farm bill. Collectively, these account for about 80 percent of the bill’s spending - and presumably for no other reason except to ensure the bill’s passage.

Of course, reform is especially difficult when already more than 500 groups are lining up to preserve their slice of farm-bill pie, according to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., ranking member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

To avoid the bitter harvest from yet another unwieldy farm bill, meaningful reforms must be addressed now before all the dubious dealing is done.

__Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Online:

https://bit.ly/2qhw5FF

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DOMESTIC ABUSERS SHOULD NOT HAVE GUNS, May 22

On Sept. 12, 2016, Susan Hoke was murdered by her estranged husband, Scott, in the kitchen of the Jackson Township home they used to share.

She had suffered abuse at his hands in the past and had a protection-from-abuse order against him. But, in the end, it did not stop her estranged husband from shooting her and then turning the gun on himself.

It was beyond senseless.

It was avoidable.

In Pennsylvania, while judges have the discretion to order those who have PFAs filed against them to surrender any firearms they own, it is not required. It is not automatic.

That is, to put it bluntly, insane.

Twelve states explicitly require anyone subject to a protection order to surrender his or her firearms. It many of those states, it is automatic. In others, the requirement doesn’t kick in until the defendant has a hearing on the matter.

Either way, such a law would seem like a common sense measure to protect people who have been abused and threatened by domestic partners. It just seems like common sense; it seems like absolute sense, the kind of law that even the most fervent advocate for gun owners’ rights could get behind.

Keeping guns out of the hands of people who have shown a propensity toward violence should be something that transcends politics or any belief that the Second Amendment gives people the absolute right to bear arms.

Several states that have passed such legislation have done so even as they faced opposition from gun enthusiasts.

Such a law is necessary. We have seen much too much carnage arise from relationships gone beyond toxic. Yes, the NRA’s mantra is “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” But guns make it a lot easier. Mixing guns with the heated emotional stakes involved in domestic situations is a recipe for tragedy.

It is that simple.

Such a law could be seen as a restriction on gun rights, particularly in light of the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, which seemed to conclude that any attempt to regulate firearms violates the Second Amendment, a ruling that ignored decades of precedent. The court has previously held that the clause of the amendment that calls for a “well-regulated militia” permits the government to regulate gun ownership.

And there are laws that do restrict gun ownership. Convicted felons, for instance, are not permitted to own firearms, a law nobody objects to, save convicted felons.

It should be the same for those adjudicated of posing a serious risk to a domestic partner.

Pennsylvania has a chance to set this straight. State Sen. Tom Killion, a Delaware County Republican, has introduced a bill that would require those subject to permanent protection-from-abuse orders to surrender their firearms to law enforcement or a licensed firearms dealer. They would not be permitted to simply give them to a family member or a friend, as the law permits now.

It makes sense. How could anyone in their right mind object?

Well, glad you asked.

The gun-rights group called Firearms Owners Against Crime has labeled the bill as “anti-gun,” offering, among others, the ridiculous argument that abusive spouses should be able to hand their weapons over to a relative or friend to make sure they are well taken care of.

Please.

This is not a Second Amendment issue.

It is, as Sen. Killion put it, “a domestic violence bill.”

It should pass.

And the sooner, the better.

It’s too late to save Susan Hoke, and the many others who have senselessly died at the hands of armed abusers. But it’s not too late to maybe stop the next one.

__York Daily Record

Online:

https://bit.ly/2qVHr53

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MUNICIPALITIES NOT TO BLAME FOR THESE FINES, May 20

It’s easy to blame administrators in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston for tax money wasted paying federal fines for failing to meet mandates spelled out years ago. The two municipalities have to fork over a combined $37,000 for non-compliance related to Environmental Protection Agency stormwater management rules.

It seems utterly avoidable. The question becomes obvious: Why didn’t they just do what had to be done?

It’s easy to blame them, but it’s wrong.

This is a problem as old as the sewer and storm lines running beneath Wilkes-Barre, Kingston and pretty much any other municipality - especially those along the Susquehanna River.

The issue: Stopping stuff other than water from getting into waterways.

For years this was about industrial waste: Stopping factories along rivers and creeks from using them like a constantly-running toilet that quickly flushes any waste, however toxic, out of site and thus out of mind.

Those problems have been largely mitigated because, frankly, they were the easiest ones to go after. There was a single point of discharge (the factory), a single entity to legally go after (the company running the factory) and usually a single solution (stop discharging toxic stuff into the water).

The next big problem was considerably more diffuse: Combined sewer outfalls. These are points along a waterway where storm water lines drain, which is fine, but where sewage also sometimes gets into the river, usually because municipalities originally didn’t separate storm water and sewer lines. If the two sources combined went to a treatment plant, heavy rains could overwhelm the system. The solution was and still often is to divert some of it straight to a river.

Municipalities have been eliminating outfalls in dribs and drabs, usually when grant money or low-interest loans became available from the federal government.

But even when you fix these first two problems and nothing but storm water enters rivers and streams, chemicals and pollutants still reach the rivers: motor oil some backyard mechanic dumped in a street drain, fertilizers spread by farmers on land near waterways, salts and chemicals just washed from the surface of roofs, roads and sidewalks.

Stopping these pollutants from reaching a river takes considerable work, and money. The problem is not that Wilkes-Barre, Kingston and other municipalities don’t want to stop them, it’s that they need serious help to do it - and that they have more urgent things on their agendas, things that very directly impact residents. You know, potholes, damaged catch basins, crumbling bridges.

Kingston Administrator Paul Keating put it bluntly, calling the rules the municipalities were fined for violating “the most comprehensive unfunded federal mandate we have been compelled to deal with.”

Clean water is a literal matter of life or death. Rules that assure clean water are essential. Those who impose such rules without providing clear guidelines - and money - to meet them are the ones to blame here.

__Wilkes-Barre Times Leader

Online:

https://bit.ly/2rRjVEt