In PA state government, the budget may have slowed down pieces of legislation, as the legislature has shifted its attention the past two months to completing the budget. But soon we’ll return to the issues, issues like the Separations Act. It may seem like an uphill, daunting task to repeal a century old law but in the words of Eliot Ness, “never stop fighting till the fight is won.”
PA still overpays for construction services so let’s do something about it. If you’re fine knowing that PA wastes tax dollars on public construction, then you’ll probably want to stop reading right now…. Still with us? Good, let’s proceed.
Earlier this year, Gov Wolf’s own guy, the DGS Secretary Topper, said he wanted to repeal the Separations Act. Great statement from a highly respected public procurement expert on all levels of government. How was this comment received? Supporters of a repeal of the Separations Act got excited, launched a petition, wrote OpEds, and worked with the legislature to propose repeal legislation. On the flip side, proponents of the status quo launched a barrage of lies to the governor’s office to support its cash-cow law (comments like: every small business will go under; PA will lose thousands upon thousands of construction jobs; etc.). BS days are over – the time to repeal is now, let’s make it happen this legislative session.
Concerned contractors and citizens of Pennsylvania launched an online petition (https://www.change.org/p/pennsylvania-repeal-pa-separations-act?source_location=minibar) to see who else wants to repeal this archaic law and save tax dollars. To date we accumulated a few signatures and gathered some great comments. But we can use more. Please take a moment to forward the petition to at least three of your contacts asking them to sign this petition. This petition will be presented to the legislature to assist in making this repeal happen. Plus at public hearings, we will share each and every comment that is posted on this petition.
Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss the repeal plans or if you’d like to share ideas to add to the plan. Jon@KeystoneContractors.com.
Also, if contacting your State Senator and/or State Representative, please ask them to support Senate Bill 744 and House Bill 1529 by becoming a co-sponsor. If needed we have talking points for you to use.
Thanks for your support.
Building Pennsylvania 