A 21st century divestiture

Pennsylvania's fiscal crisis is producing one of the largest divestitures of state facilities in decades.

During the 1990s, Pennsylvania divested ownership of state-run general hospitals in the coal region. These hospitals were built in the early 20th century to provide basic health care to coal miners and their families. But the state got out of the business of running general hospitals when an earlier recession led to a scramble for cost savings.

During the past 30 years, successive governors have ordered closings of state mental hospitals and mental retardation centers as resident populations steadily declined.

Now the Rendell administration is moving ahead with plans to close the Scotland School for Veterans' Children in Franklin County and sell the property and transform the Scranton State School for the Deaf into a campus of the nonprofit Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.

The historic sites managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission are being scaled back dramatically. The commission's governing board last week gave the green light to proposals to turn over operation of six of the 23 sites to local volunteer groups or consortiums involving regional museums and local governments. Hours at several state-owned historic sites in Northeast Pennsylvania are being reduced. Several of the site transition plans are still being negotiated, but the commission wants to have a local "Friends" group take over operation of the Conrad Weiser Homestead in Berks County. The recommendations are somewhat vague for the future of the Joseph Priestley House in Northumberland County where arrangements with the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, American Chemical Society, Northumberland County Historical Society and Northumberland County Commissioners are being explored.

This scale back was spurred by a $2 million cut in the PHMC 2009-10 operating budget and staff cutbacks in recent years. Now Gov. Ed Rendell has ordered another $3 million lopped off the budget.

Political octane

A sense of the tough fiscal realities at hand came when the Senate tabled a vote last week on legislation to authorize the state Agriculture Department to do random testing of octane levels in gasoline. Pennsylvania is one of three states that don't require these tests.

"This legislation is a critical consumer protection measure," said Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-12, Willow Grove, in a statement. "Particularly with gas prices so high, we need to ensure Pennsylvanians are getting what they are paying for."

In floor debate, Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-22, Peckville, said his caucus agreed wholeheartedly this bill is a needed consumer measure. But Mellow said with the state deficit at $3.2 billion, Senate Democrats wouldn't put up votes now for a bill that would increase state spending. He contrasted the measure with the Senate GOP bill budget bill to heavily cut state spending.

After Mellow spoke, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, Chester, walked across the Senate floor to confer with him.

Shortly after, Greenleaf moved to table his bill until state fiscal issues are resolved.

(Swift is Harrisburg bureau chief for Times-Shamrock Communications newspapers. E-mail rswift@timesshamrock.com.)

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