The Greeter this morning was Michaela Luzicova and she did a great job.
President Herb Klotz rang the bell at 7:30 a.m. Pastor Jean Masiko gave a very nice invocation.
GUESTS:
Ellen Kern, Chief of Staff for Sen. Pat Browne, (Allentown RC); Michaela Luzicova, our Youth Exchange student; Steve LaPierre (Emmaus RC).
And Shirley Randall was with us too.
UKRAINE PROJECT UPDATE:
There was a meeting with Dr. Suprun of the University in the Ukraine last Friday. Ihor Fedoriw explained that Dr. Suprun is heading up a team to upgrade the health care system in the Ukraine, and was already in Toronto. She was flown to the Lehigh Valley for a day to meet with our project committee and the Good Shephard representative. We believe that she left with a favorable impression of our project and the teams.
Herb announced that Tuesday evening he received an e-mail stating that our District Grant application for travel to the Ukraine has been accepted by the district committee.
PR EVENT:
April 23rd, Saturday, was the Community Resources Fair at Jordan Lutheran Church and we had a Rotary info table. Traffic was good and we ran out of Rack Cards to hand out. Also, a picture was taken of some folks who visited the table to thank AW Rotarians for making the Snack Pack program happen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Last Wednesday we had 12 students and 11 other volunteers snack packing at Parkland HS.
Wednesday and Thursday last week we volunteered at the Lowhill Food Pantry.
Friday April 22nd was a very enjoyable DINING OUT at Wert’s Café.
Today, April 27th is snack packing at NWL.
Tomorrow, April 28th, is our next evening Happy Hour meeting. Herb Klotz will provide a Sierra Leone update. Come join us and bring guests.
The next Youth Services Committee meeting is scheduled for May 4th -- after our regular meeting -- at which we get to sample snacks from “29 Cooks.”
The Tempting Tastes 2 full committee will meet on Friday, May 6th at the Holiday Inn for a walk through.
We need another 100 tickets to be purchased.
NOTE: We need volunteers to help on Sunday May 15th. Please contact Gwenn, Gary or Len.
Gwenn also had some silent auction items displayed at the meeting.
Herb requests that items for the basket of cheer raffle be brought to the next few meetings.
May 7th is the Ziegels Church second annual Yard Sale fundraiser with half the proceeds going to NWL snack packs.
May 14th is the District Training Assembly at DeSales University. All new committee members are urged to attend. Registration is on-line at $31 each.
May 15th is Tempting Tastes 2. Buy tickets and also sell to others, please.
May 17th is the Million Dollar Journey Dinner in King of Prussia. RI President “Ravi” is the keynote speaker. Tickets are $45 each.
May 18th our meeting is at LCCC with our annual scholarship awards.
Next week our scheduled Greeter is Donna Beach, and the program will be Gwenn and Friends talking all about Tempting Tastes 2.
BANNERS WANTED:
President Herb once again calls for members to donate any banners that we have from visiting other RCs. He has a bunch and he has a plan for them.
HOST FAMILIES FOR Y.E. STUDENT NEEDED:
In order to have an Inbound Youth Exchange student assigned to AW Rotarian care for the 2016-17 school year, we need to have at least two -- preferably three -- host families committed to this in the next few weeks. They do not have to be Rotarians. We have one host signed up in the Northwestern S.D. so we need at least 1 more. Or we can do this with two from the Parkland S.D.
ROTARIAN OF THE WEEK:
The AW Rotarian of the week is Chuck Ehninger who began his long career with Dun & Bradstreet in Detroit, MI and then moved around to 6 other cities, including a few years in London, England. Chuck worked for the late Bob Randall in Indianapolis and started in Rotary there in the Downtown RC.
While there Chuck met a TV camera operator who then went to Chicago and then to New York City. Her name is Jane Pauley.
Chuck served as our President for 2007-08 and served on a number of committees. He is most proud to be part of a group that does good for others. He noted that Vernon Fenstermaker had helped him immensely.
LUCK of the DRAW: --
Today Jean Masiko won the prize of a free breakfast. Then visiting Rotarian Steve LaPierre’s ticket was drawn and he pulled out a white marble and did not win the $150 in the 50:50 pot. The odds are getting better, folks.
FINES:
S-a-A Don Davis fined Gary Englehardt, and visiting Rotarian Ellen Kern, for no pin on display. And he fined Ralph Witcher for coming late.
HAPPY DOLLARS:
Mike Henry is happy that AJ and he went to Dorothy & Rick Bloom’s house for an awesome special chicken dinner prepared by our very own Youth Exchange student, Michaela Luzicova.
Mitch Huston is happy to note that on Saturday, June 25th there will be a kickoff event to celebrate the Bethlehem city anniversary. His Community Band will be performing at 3 PM. Come one, come all.
Ellen Kern is happy that Senator Browne arrived in time to be our speaker today.
PROGRAM:
President Herb introduced PA Senator Pat Browne, a friend of Rotary. Sen. Browne was born and raised in Allentown, and attended Allentown Central Catholic High School. He resides in Allentown with his wife, Heather, and son, Alex. Senator Browne received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a law degree from Temple University. Prior to his legislative service, he was employed with the accounting firms of Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse.
Sen. Browne is Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman for the 2015-16 Legislative Session. The committee reviews all legislation for its fiscal impact.
He served as Senate Majority Whip for the 2011-12 and 2013-14 Legislative Session. Senator Browne is also a member of four Senate Committees: Communications and Technology, Education; Finance; and Transportation. He is also a member of the Senate Majority Policy Committee. Senator Browne was re-elected in November 2014 to his third full term as state Senator for the 16th District, representing constituents in parts of Lehigh County.
In 2009, Senator Browne crafted the one-of-a-kind, 130-acre Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) to help revitalize and expand the tax base of the then financially-struggling city of Allentown. There has already been $1 billion of new development investment in Allentown with another billion dollars expected in 2015, and more than $3 million in school property tax revenues for Allentown School District has been generated through the zone.
Pat noted that he had been a program here for AW Rotarians before, and was pleased to be asked back. He also said that Ellen Kern may have influenced his being asked back, since folks seem to like her a lot.
Sen. Browne serves as the Budget Chair for the PA Senate in Harrisburg, and that is the topic for this meeting. Pat observed that differences in politics is only part of the challenges to arrive at a budget for the Commonwealth that is balanced. And we are not there yet.
Part of the problem is our changing demographics, one being our aging population. And a large portion of the annual budget goes for items mandated by the federal Government, and things like government employee pensions.
The economic recession that hit in 2008 caused a 30% loss in the pension reserves which still has not been made up. And raising taxes is not a welcome step, but cutting expenses is. And they have used some accounting tactics to help as well. Pat noted that PA had a very high corporate tax rate now; raising it more is not an option.
The revenue each year in PA tends to track the overall economy. So for the last 7 to 8 years it was way down. It took 5 years for the revenue dollars to return to the 2008 level. During the recession the planners reduced spending in many areas to levels that were seen in the 1990s on up to 2005. The total PA government employee count went from 81,000 down to 74,000.
From 2007-8 to 2015-16 the revenue was up by $2 billion. But the spending for mandated services was up by $5 billion. These welfare programs covered 1.8 million Pennsylvanians in 1995. Now they must cover 3.2 million people. The dollars per person we spend is reasonable. But the increase in people covered is enormous. These folks are eligible based on income and need.
Prison costs now are being studied as a possible reduction, especially for non-violent substance abuse offenders. Also the elaborate pension plans may have to be renegotiated. With no new spending, the PA deficit is projected to reach $9 billion by year 2021.Sen. Browne is committed to finding ways to reduce the deficit, but the ways are not obvious yet.
CLOSING:
Halyna Stegura again hit the right note to start us on a nice rendition of “God Bless America.” Then we recited the Pledge to the Flag of the United States and then the saying “One profits most who serves the best.”
