STA TE REPRESENTA TIVE Doyle Heff ley PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID HARRISBURG, PA PERMIT NO. 432 122 n d Legisla tive District Si Hefey ndorses Stronger Lawto lace roperty Tax increases on BallotReerenda on school property tax increases above infation would be placed on ballots or voters to approve or disapprove under a new law that passed the General Assembly on June 28. Act 25 will mandate that school districts seek voter approval or any property tax in- crease above the state-set infationary index that is specic to each school district. Currently, school districts can seek exemptions to the re- erendum provisions in Act 1, the Taxpayer Re- lieAct, or 10 dierent reasons. The new law preserves the exceptions or special education expense increases, pension costs, and pre-existing debt. The proposal would require school districts to meet certain nancial criteria beore gaining approval or an exception. With this new law, voters will be able to control property taxes in a way they could not beore. Taxpayers will have a say at the ballot box on certain property tax increases requested by school districts. Districts will have to do a better job explain- ing their reasoning and need or the tax increase ithey want the ballot question to pass, or simply keep property taxes in check. Rep. Heey spoke on the House oor on behalfof the Taxpayer Relief Act, which became Act 25 and should help voters have a say at the ballot box regarding property tax rates. It has been an honor and a privilege representing the resi- dents oCarbon County since be- coming your state representativ e. In that time, I have already voted on hundreds obills, 75 owhich have become law this year, in- cluding some substantial govern- ment reorms. Pennsylvania taxpayers will soon have an online database to track government spending and revenue (PennWATCH). In addi- tion, we have made substantial welare reorms and have accom- plished unemployment compen- sation reorms. Each othese laws will save taxpayers money. I continue to work with my col- leagues in a bipartisan ashion to be responsive to concerns and make state government more available in Carbon County. I have opened two district o- ces to serve residents, and I am looking at setting up a third sat- ellite oce to reach out to even more othe people I represent. Please take a look at the inor- mation in this newsletter and iyou want to know more or have a question, call the Lehighton oce at 610-377-6363 or go to my web- site, RepHefey.com. Updates are also available on Facebook.com/RepHefey. I am joining with Sen. David Argall (R-29) and Sen. John Yudichak (D-14) to co-host a senior expo featuring more than 60 exhibitors. We decided to conduct this event jointly in order to be cost ecient and provide a one-stop shop for local services. We look forward to seeing you this fall! Tursday, ct. 20 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jim Torpe Memorial Hall 101 ast 10th StreetDear Neighbors, Ma rk Yo u r C a le n d a r Summer 2011
Hefey ndorses Stronger Law to lace roperty Tax increases on Ballot
Reerenda on school property tax increases above infation would be placedon ballots or voters to approve or disapprove under a new law that passed theGeneral Assembly on June 28.
Act 25 will mandate that school districtsseek voter approval or any property tax in-
crease above the state-set infationary indexthat is specic to each school district. Currently,school districts can seek exemptions to the re-erendum provisions in Act 1, the Taxpayer Re-
lie Act, or 10 dierent reasons. The new law preserves the exceptions or
special education expense increases, pension
costs, and pre-existing debt. The proposalwould require school districts to meet certainnancial criteria beore gaining approval or anexception.
With this new law, voters will be able to control property taxes in a way theycould not beore. Taxpayers will have a say at the ballot box on certain property taxincreases requested by school districts. Districts will have to do a better job explain-
ing their reasoning and need or the tax increase i they want the ballot question topass, or simply keep property taxes in check.
I am committed to nding solutions to ease the burden o property taxes on ho-meowners. I am a member o the House Property Tax Caucus and have signed on to
several bills, one o which dedicates more gambling revenue to property tax relie.
Rep. Heey spoke on the House oor on behalf
of the Taxpayer Relief Act, which became Act 25
and should help voters have a say at the ballot
box regarding property tax rates.
It has been an honor and a
privilege representing the resi-dents o Carbon County since be-coming your state representative.
In that time, I have already votedon hundreds o bills, 75 o whichhave become law this year, in-
cluding some substantial govern-ment reorms.Pennsylvania taxpayers will
soon have an online database totrack government spending and
revenue (PennWATCH). In addi-tion, we have made substantialwelare reorms and have accom-
plished unemployment compen-sation reorms. Each o these lawswill save taxpayers money.
I continue to work with my col-
leagues in a bipartisan ashion tobe responsive to concerns andmake state government moreavailable in Carbon County.
I have opened two district o-ces to serve residents, and I amlooking at setting up a third sat-
ellite oce to reach out to evenmore o the people I represent.
Please take a look at the inor-mation in this newsletter and i
you want to know more or have aquestion, call the Lehighton oceat 610-377-6363 or go to my web-site, RepHefey.com. Updates are
also available on Facebook.com/
RepHefey.
Doyle Heey
State Representative122nd Legislative District
I am joining with Sen. David Argall (R-29) and Sen. John Yudichak
(D-14) to co-host a senior expo featuring more than 60 exhibitors. We
decided to conduct this event jointly in order to be cost ecient and
provide a one-stop shop for local services. We look forward to seeing
you this fall!
Tursday, ct. 2010 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jim Torpe Memorial Hall101 ast 10th Street
The recommendations is-sued by the Governor’s Marcel-
lus Shale Advisory Commissionare in line with the MarcellusShale impact ee proposalsintroduced this session. That
proposal would establish localgovernment impact ees setaside or municipalities or re-pair o storm water and sewer
systems, preservation o watersupplies, and road and bridgeconstruction.
With an impact ee, coun-ties would realize unding orre and emergency medicalservices equipment and train-
ing, watershed protection andimprovement, and food plainmanagement. The advisory
commission’s recommenda-tions also call or more state
regulation with regard to envi-ronmental impacts such as soil
erosion monitoring at drillingsites, larger buers betweenwell sites and resh watersources, and a health registry
or people within a mile o drill-ing sites.
Conservation districts, the
Environmental StewardshipFund and the Hazardous Sites
Cleanup Fund would also re-ceive a portion o the impact
ee under the bill I support. The commission issued its
report on July 22 with a com-plete list o recommendations.
This report will help to initiateaction on the many dierentproposals that have been intro-
duced as the Legislature con-siders its all agenda.
I support the commission’s
decision to shy away rom a sev-erance tax, which has causeddisruptions in the natural gasindustry employment in statesthat have imposed too great a
ee. The commission recom-
mended an impact ee that will
primarily benet areas in whichMarcellus Shale natural gaswells are located.
House Pursues Anti-Drug Agenda • The House has passed a bill that provides a sentencing enhancement or gang-re-
lated crimes, such as possession with intent to deliver drugs and violent crimes. House
Bill 1121 awaits action in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The House passed House Bill 140, which calls or methadone incident review teams
in cases where methadone was either a primary or secondary cause o death. These
medications are prescribed to aid addicts withdrawing rom heroin and other opiateaddictions, but are also increasingly prescribed by doctors to treat chronic pain. This
legislation will help shed light on mysterious deaths and prevent abuse o this highly
regulated prescription.
• I have co-spon-
sored a bill that was
the subject o two
House Human Ser-
vices Committee
meetings, House
Bill 1651, which
would establish the
Pharmaceutical Ac-
countability Moni-
toring System. This
prescription drug
database would
help monitor and
control the exces-
sive distribution o
legal prescriptions
and identiy drug
seekers, who abuse
and sell prescrip-
tion drugs or a
prot. The hearings
helped raise aware-
ness about the po-
tential dangers o
prescription drugs
and their abuse. The
bill would encour-
age intervention,
prevention and ed-
ucation so that lives
can be saved that
might otherwise be
lost due to acciden-
tal overdoses.
• A new law, Act 40, makes drug delivery resulting in death a rst-degree elony. The
intent is to give law enorcement and prosecutors a stronger tool to punish drug dealers
whose illegal products kill. The crime would be classied as third-degree murder, and adeendant’s guilt must be proven by establishing malice on the part o the drug dealer.
• A new law will take eect in banning the sale o chemicals marketed as bath salts or
herbal incense, also known as synthetic cocaine, synthetic marijuana or salvia. They will
be classied as controlled substances.
Act 7 adds salvia divinorum, salvinorin A, divinorin A, synthetic marijuana and syn-
thetic cocaine, all o which have a high potential or abuse, to a list o banned chemicals
and criminalizes their possession and sale.
Rep. Heey asks a question at a House Human Services Committee hearing on June 16 on a bill
that would create a prescription drug monitoring database, with the goal to prevent accidental
deaths and the misuse of medications. Committee Chairman Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks), thesponsor of the bill, is pictured at right.
Randy and Karen Flexer of Lehighton testied at a committee hearing in favor of House Bill 1651.
“It is my belief that if this bill was in place in April this year, my son would still be alive,” said
State Budget is n-Tme and ro-Taxpayer The General Assembly passed a $27.15 billion General Fund budget that cut spending by more than $1 billion and did not
raise taxes. The House ought to restore more than $200 million to school districts to hold down property taxes, and another$300 million to Pennsylvania’s public colleges to hold down tuition rates. Spending was cut in welare and corrections.
Because o the loss o $2.7 billion in ederal stimulus money, the Legislature needed to ocus on where to trim expenses torestore as much money to education as possible.
School districts were well aware that the state would not be able to replace the $1 billion in stimulus money they received
AND und all other agency line items at last scal year’s levels. Legislative and executive branch spending was cut by $100million to provide another $100 million in Accountability Block Grants.
The basic education subsidy received $5.35 billion in state General Fund money, more than during any previous scal year.State System schools were unded at 82 percent o what they received last year. Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln re-
ceived 81 percent o their 2010-11 total. The state investment in higher education is $1.6 billion.Pennsylvania has a number o big-ticket obligations that needed to be budgeted or: outstanding pension obligations, the
potential o a $716 million MCare repayment, $4 billion in unemployment compensation debt to the ederal government, notincluding road and bridge repair needs and increases in long-term state debt.
Controlling Lawsuit Abuse Will Help Create Jobs,
etain Medical rofessionalsA new law – known as the Fair Share Act
– holds deendants in civil suits liable onlyor the share o damages or which theyare responsible. Under the law, a person or
entity ound liable in a lawsuit will be re-sponsible or paying only his or her share o the damages. Any person or entity ound
to be more than 60 percent at ault couldbe held responsible or 100 percent o the jury award.
Previously, a deendant who was onlymarginally responsible or a plainti’s inju-ries could be held liable or 100 percent o the damages i the other deendants were
unable to pay. This encouraged plaintisto add deep-pocketed deendants to law-suits, even i they were not really respon-sible or injuries.
Lawsuit abuse reorm is about job cre-ation and retention, and it encourages newbusinesses to locate in Pennsylvania bymaking the Commonwealth more business
riendly. Lawsuit abuse reorm can reducethe cost o doing business and practicingmedicine within the Commonwealth.
Welfare eforms Address Waste, Fraud and Abuse The nal budget includes about $400 million in welare savings. The House
passed a number o reorms that help ensure the Department o Pubilc Wel-
are (DPW) has the ability to achieve these savings. The reorms include:• Drug Testing or drug elons applying or public assistance. Tests will
also be applied to drug elons currently in the welare system to ensure that
welare benets are not being used to buy drugs.• Anti-Beneft Shopping. Residents receiving public assistance benets
are now only eligible or benets based on the levels allowed in their countyo legal residence, regardless o where benet applications are made. This
change ensures residents only receive the benets they are eligible or andhelps prevent raud resulting rom “shopping around” or the highest benet.
• Income Eligibility Verifcation System. DPW will use an electronic
cross-reerence system to provide a 19-point check on applicants’ eligibility
and create a standard raud detection system.• Special Allowance Program
Changes. For years, audit reports
have shown the Special Allowanceprogram to be abused, wasting mil-lions o dollars. This new law requiresreductions o up to 25 percent and
provides the leeway to eliminate al-lowances in the program.
Castle Doctrne ow Law A new law that I co-sponsored would extend a person’s right to sel-deense, including the use o deadly orce, in an indi-
vidual’s home, car or any other place he or she has the right to be. The Castle Doctrine claries state law so that legal protec-tion is aorded to law-abiding citizens who use lethal orce in protecting themselves, their amilies and their properties.
A person should not be held liable or taking action to preserve his or her own lie and saety when aced with a grave
threat. The new law would create the presumption that an attacker or intruder who is in the process o unlawully and orce-ully entering a dwelling, residence or occupied vehicle intends to do great bodily harm to the occupants, who would have areasonable belie that the use o deadly orce is necessary.
The presumption would not apply i the person entering a home
was another resident o the home; a law enorcement ocer; or a par-ent, grandparent or other guardian removing a child rom the homeor vehicle. In addition, this legislation would not apply i a person wasusing his or her home or vehicle to engage in criminal activity.
It is important to emphasize that this legislation does not endorseunlawul aggression. It merely provides individuals with the necessarylegal protection to respond to such aggression.
Rep. Heey stands behind the governor during the bill signing ceremony on June 28 with a number of
other legislative supporters of the Castle Doctrine. Act 10 takes eect at the end of August.
Rep. Heey spoke at a press conference on May 9, at
the Beaver Meadows Borough Hall to call on stricter im-
migration and welfare fraud enforcement after a trac
stop on May 2 resulted in an illegal immigrant being
released despite him possessing two ACCESS cards in
As a member o the House TransportationCommittee, I have introduced House Bill 1698,known as the bridge bill, a capital budget pro-posal that itemizes all o the highway-railroad
and highway bridge projects across Pennsyl-vania.
Authoring this will help to ensure that proj-ects Carbon County needs are being given
prompt and serious attention when inrastruc-ture matters are discussed and budgeted.
It is my hope that the House and Senate
can agree on dierent nancing options tound the many needed inrastructure projectsor bridges across the state.
Voter ptions forroperty Tax elief Act
I sponsored House Bill 1365to initiate a nonbinding reeren-
dum allowing voters to choosebetween property tax relie pro-
posals oered by members o the House and Senate. The top
three most sponsored propertytax relie bills in each chamberwill be combined into one pro-posal rom that chamber.
Voters will choose betweenthe two plans during a non-binding reerendum placed on
the ballot.Voters will be asked: When
the General Assembly considers
the issue of property tax relief,
which one of the following op-
tions do you prefer ?
Table Games Taxes Should Ad roperty Tax ele
I authored House Bill 1396 to redirectsome o the table gaming taxes to theProperty Tax Relie Fund.
One of the original reasons Pennsyl-
vania enacted legalized gambling was toprovide relief to school property taxpayers.
The initial slot machine gaming billcontained property tax relie language,
but the subsequent law that expandedgaming to include table games did not.
Thereore, none o the table gaming
taxes that are collected are set aside orhomeowner property tax relie. They godirectly to the General Fund.
My legislation would require a portion
o table gaming revenue to be dedicatedto the Property Tax Relie Fund.
The bill is currently beore the HouseGaming Oversight Committee.
nlne Legslatve Survey To ll out a brie legislative survey to express your opinions on Sunday hunting, Marcellus Shale impact ees and
privatizing state liquor stores, go to my website www.RepHefey.com and click on the link.
Erin Bucci and Kayla Susko, both of Jim Thorpe, visited with
Rep. Doyle Heey on June 29 in the Governor’s Reception
Room of the Capitol. The girls were selected by the American
Legion Auxiliary to attend Keystone Girls State, the 66th ses-sion sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary.
Rep. Heey’s district of-
ce sta Timm Berger,
Janine Partenio and Jean
Papay, and his Harrisburg
legislative secretary, Linda
Schylaske.
Assistance with PennDOT paperwork PACE and PACENET applications or seniors
Property Tax/Rent Rebate applications
Voter registration orms and absentee ballot applications
State tax orms
State maps and state park inormation
Copies o legislation
Tours o the State Capitol
Referrals to agencies to resolve state-related matters
What ur ce Can Do For You
District Oces:Lehighton Borough Annex110 North Third Street
Lehighton, PA 18235Phone: (610) 377-6363Fax: (610) 377-5675
Frosty Mountain Plaza2681 State Route 903, Unit 3Albrightsville, PA 18210Phone: (570) 722-8700Fax: (570) 722-8702
Students from the Towamensing Elementary School in
the Palmerton Area School District visited the Capitol onApril 12.
Members of AARP from Carbon County came to the Capitol
for Lobby Day on June 8. Pictured are: Joan Smith, Diane
Urban, Charles Urban, Delores Kichtine and Donald Smith
