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Tuesday, May 07, 2002

PRIMARY 2002: Education is top issue

A number of candidates for state office this year believe addressing school funding is a major issue facing state lawmakers, according to survey results released yesterday by a coalition of 16 nonprofit education organizations.

"The candidates who responded to the survey expressed almost unanimous recognition that the current system of funding schools in Pennsylvania is broken, unfair to students and taxpayers alike," said Ron Cowell, president of the Education Policy and Leadership Center, one of the survey sponsors.

The coalition, called the Pennsylvania School Finance Reform Group, sent 10 questions to all Democratic and Republican candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, state senator and state representative in the 2002 primary. Of the 447 who received the survey, 165 -- or 37 percent -- responded.

Among the ideas receiving widespread or unanimous support from respondents were overhauling the system for financing education during the 2003-04 legislative session and adjusting future state budgets to increase the state's contributions to school costs and to help close the funding gap between the poorest and wealthiest districts.

The complete responses from the candidates can be found at http://www.eplc.org/candidates/primarysurvey2002.html.

LEGISLATURE: Nursing home bill passes

The state House unanimously passed a bill yesterday that would prevent nursing homes from keeping the security deposits of senior citizens who die and cannot give 30 days' notice to vacate their residences.

If a 30-day notice is required in a residents' contract with a nursing home, then it's currently legal for a nursing or personal care home to keep the money when a resident dies, said state Rep. Bruce Smith, R-York County.

"It's a ridiculous requirement," said Smith, who sponsored the bill after a constituent complained when her 82-year-old mother died in a personal care home and the $2,000 deposit paid to live there was forfeited. "This is definitely a strong consumer protection bill for seniors."

The bill goes to the Senate.

The bill would require nursing and personal care homes to repay within 60 days the security deposits to the survivors of a resident. Violators could be sued and ordered by a judge to pay double the security deposit, plus interest.