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Come on down: Supreme Court voter ID showdown in Philly. And more.
PA Supreme Court announces it will decide whether the state's voter ID law is constitutional in City Hall courtroom, plus new cuts to the safety net orchestrated by Governor Corbett that you didn't already know about.
Come on down: Supreme Court voter ID showdown in Philly. And more.
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It's set: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last week announced that it will decide whether the state's controversial voter ID law is constitutional. And in Philadelphia! Come on down: Sept. 13, City Hall.
A Republican Commonwealth Court judge upheld the law, which requires voters to present one of a set of valid forms of ID to vote and could disenfranchise thousands, earlier this month. The Supreme Court is split 3-3 because Justice Joan Orie Melvin was suspended after being charged with corruption, and a 3-3 split automatically upholds the lower court's ruling.
One legal expert is not optimistic the Supremes will overturn the law, but court watchers are waiting to see whether Republican Chief Justice and former Philly DA Ron Castille might switch sides to join Democrats, as he has before.
Some say that Democrats will turn the voter-suppression effort to their advantage by rallying their base, while others are predicting election-day chaos if the law remains in effect. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday points out that since voters without the mandated ID will be allowed to vote with provisional ballots, which must later be verified, things could get sticky if there are drawn-out legal fights over whether to count a huge number of these ballots. They could become the hanging chads of Pennsylvania 2012. Downright terrifying idea.
Most Pennsylvanians now disapprove of Corbett, a governor who has done bad stuff we didn't even know about
First off: Gov. Tom Corbett's poll numbers keep dropping. And yes, I feel like I write this blog post every week. But, it's a brand new poll, and his numbers are at a brand new low.
Last week, CP reported a Franklin & Marshall College poll showing that 42 percent of Pennsylvanians view Corbett unfavorably. Soon thereafter, The Allentown Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll found that 46 percent disapprove. An Inquirer poll released today has 52 percent of Pennsylvania voters disapproving of the governor.
"Leadership is not a popularity contest," Corbett spokesperson Kevin Harley told the Inquirer.
Well, democracy in general and and Corbett's 2014 re-election in particular are kind of “a popularity contest.” Politics PA had an extended meditation on my “ Romney shuns Corbett as guv's unpopularity continues rise” post.
Meanwhile, more Corbett cuts to the safety net know one knew about are regularly being discovered: $722,000 that helped disabled homeless people apply for federal disability benefits (SSI) has been eliminated, reports The Inquirer's Al Lubrano. Social-service providers say that they were able to secure $4,577,808 in annual benefits for needy and disabled clients―money that would be spent here in the state. [UPDATE: Emma Jacobs at WHYY, who also covered this story, just tweeted a correction at me: "Inquirer got the emphasis wrong on who that program helped. TANF [meaning, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare] recipients, not homeless." It is "administered by Homeless Advocacy Project because they're good at it!"]
More on that: The Inquirer had a good story on how the Corbett administration's elimination of $205-per-month cash welfare to the disabled, abused women, and recovering addicts could shut down a large network of frequently DIY drug and alcohol recovery houses in Philadelphia. The state clearly has no plan for how to treat these people, who may soon be roaming our city streets aching for a fix and lacking any meaningful support. A Department of Public Welfare spokesperson told the Inky she had “never heard of those programs." Christ.
City Paper first reported on the threat to recovery houses in a March story, and recovering addicts told CP one thing over and over again: You don't want us on the street.
"I guess I'd be out there committing more crimes," Sean, 27, a recovering heroin addict at Next Step recovery house, told me. "I know it's hard on the budget. But ... it takes more money to take care of us in jail than to pay us 200 bucks."
The elimination of General Assistance went into effect last week, and ACT UP says that it will be protesting at the governor's mansion (Harrisburg, PA, starting near Mclay and North Sixth Street, ending at Governor’s Mansion on North Second Street) this Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.
“It is quite clear, he is saying that people with HIV/AIDS, people with chronic illnesses, and people with disabilities don’t matter,” says ACT UP member Jose DeMarco. “We are better dead than alive to him. He thinks he can balance budgets on our backs. He thinks he can ignore us, particularly us in Philadelphia. Well, he better think again.”
More state news:
- The 2007 law that funds the state's highways and mass transit agencies is, as City Paper has reported, unable to provide the funds necessary to maintain our basic infrastructure. And the Pennsylvania Turnpike, The Inquirer finds, might just bankrupt itself (and riders who face regularly hiked tolls) in the process: $7 billion debt.
- My colleague Samantha Melamed reports on how “an unforgiving and broken system is forcing sex offenders further to the fringes of society ― and that’s dangerous for all of us.”
- State Rep. Joseph Brennan (D-Lehigh), arrested last week for “beating his wife and driving away drunk,” is off the ballot this November. The Democratic Party will now choose a replacement for the general election.
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