David Spett

I’ve just begun a job with the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C, administering the group’s program to fund and support college student publications. More on my About Me page.

I’m excited to work with college journalists across the country. No longer will I write and report every day, but I should be able to occasionally post to Campus Progress’ web site and Pushback.org.

HARRISBURG (Nov. 20) – When compared to other states, taxes and spending in Pennsylvania aren’t very high, according to a new study from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.

“Unlike what we hear in the Capitol, Pennsylvania is not the highest-taxed state or the highest spending state,” said Sharon Ward, director of the left-leaning think tank. “In fact, we are in the lower half of the country. We rank 32nd [highest] on taxes and 30th on government spending, as a share of personal income.”

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HARRISBURG (Nov. 19) – The Civil Service Commission is violating “the spirit of the law” by not enforcing the Veterans’ Preference Program, which requires state agencies to give preference to qualified veterans applying for civil service jobs, Auditor General Jack Wagner said at a news conference Wednesday.

Wagner’s agency released an audit finding that from the three-year period ending in mid-2006, “25 state agencies filled 569 civil service employment positions without considering eligible veterans.”

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HARRISBURG (Nov. 18) – Pennsylvania’s system of funding special education isn’t broken, but it still could benefit from changes, a state official testified Tuesday.

“We’d be very open to working to reform the special education funding system, but is our system broken? No,” said John Tommasini, director of the state’s Bureau of Special Education.

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HARRISBURG (Nov. 18) – Attorney Chris Hobbs, 36, the son-in-law of the late Sen. James Rhoades, R-Schuylkill, said Tuesday that he is definitely in the running for the 29th senatorial district seat.

Rhoades, who had been in the state Senate since 1981, was reelected on Nov. 4 after a fatal car crash in October while he was on his way to a high school sporting event.

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HARRISBURG (Nov. 17) – Several individuals on both sides of the aisle say they are either running or considering a run in a special election to fill the seat of state Sen. James Rhoades, R-Schuylkill.

After dying in a car crash in October, Rhoades was posthumously reelected with 63 percent of the vote on Election Day. He defeated Democrat Peter “P.J.” Symons, the Schuylkill County prothonotary, who received 35 percent, and independent candidate Dennis Baylor, who received 2 percent of the vote.

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