Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Things are off to a rainy and cold start here at Capitol Ideas World HQ. Fortunately, there's plenty of stories to throw on the fire to keep us warm on this 24th day of February.

So let's get started, shall we?

Oh, Rick. Don't Ever Change.
We love you just the way you are:
"Satan is attacking the great institutions of America, using those great vices of pride, vanity, and sensuality as the root to attack all of the strong plants that has so deeply rooted in the American tradition," Our Rick said in a speech earlier this week.
And, bless him, he's sticking by his remarks:
"I'm a person of faith. I believe in good in evil. If somehow or another because you're a person of faith and you believe in good and evil is a disqualifier for president, we're going to have a very small pool of candidates who can run for president," he told CNN.
Believing in good and evil is a disqualifier for the White House? No. Thinking that America is under attack by Mel Brooks in a pantomime costume? Aren't there enough corporeal bad guys in the world to worry about?

Good Evening, Everyone.
The politically obsessed among you probably already know that today's the last day to file legal challenges against candidates looking to get on the spring primary ballot.

Would-be ballot challengers had until 5 p.m. today to get their paperwork into the state Commonwealth Court. And when we went over there, the seething mass of lawyers looked a bit like the blooper reel from The Discovery Channel's annual "Shark Week" extravaganza.

There was at least one challenge to President Barack Obama that we could see. And lawyers for Republican auditor general candidate John Maher, of Allegheny County, are challenging the petitions of his rival for the GOP nomination, Frank Pinto of Dauphin County.

In the Lehigh Valley, House candidates Wanda Mercado-Arroyo, a Republican running in the 134th House District, and Leslie Altieri, a Democrat, who's running in the 138th District, are facing challenges.

Mercado-Arroyo is one of several Republicans running for the seat most recently held by Republican Doug Reichley, who's now a Lehigh County judge. The 138th District seat is currently held by GOP Rep Marcia Hahn.

And Rep. Gary Day, R-Lehigh, is facing a challenge in his effort to become a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

We'll be tracking these efforts through the courts. Stay tuned.

Technically, former Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy is running against ex-Lackawanna County prosecutor Kathleen Kane for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General this spring. The winner faces Cumberland County District Attorney Dave Freed, a Republican, in the fall.

But as he picked up the endorsement this afternoon from one of the state's largest healthcare unions, Murphy, who represented the Eighth District for two terms from 2006 to 2010, seemed to have another opponent in mind. Namely, GOP Gov. Tom Corbett.

In language that wouldn't have sounded out of place at an #Occupy rally, Murphy accused Corbett and his GOP allies in the General Assembly  "of waging a war on workers," who'd rather put Pennsylvanians out of work than "ask their corporate buddies" to surrender tax breaks and other perks.

"The governor of Pennsylvania has failed Pennsyvlania's families," Murphy continued, neglecting to mention Kane or Freed, for that matter, even once in a brief speech in the Capitol rotunda. "Working families are not the enemy. As attorney general, I'll always protect the middle-class from those kinds of attacks."

Neal Bisno, the president of SEIU-Healthcare, called Murphy a champion of workers. A former constituent, Dan Haney, highlighted what he said were Murphy's efforts to save local jobs when Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefits manager based in Missouri, threatened to leave the region, taking about 1,000 jobs with it. Ultimately, about 300 workers received pink slips.

Asked later to differentiate himself from Kane, who spent years as a prosecutor in northeastern Pennsylvania, Murphy pointed to his experience serving as an Army Judge Advocate General in Iraq. He has been criticized for his lack of Pennsyvlania courtroom experience.

That sort of tenure is considered critical for Democrats, who have never held the Attorney General's office in the nearly four decades it has been an elected post. Republicans, who have served either as federal or county prosecutors have had a lock on the post.

Kane's spokesman, Josh Morrow, thanked Murphy for his service, but added that his tenure as a JAG didn't stack up alongside Kane's 12-year career as a prosecutor.

The state Legislature needs to finally pass legislation transferring control of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's investigations wing to the Attorney General's office, the agency's top official said this morning.

As he made his annual budget pitch before the House Appropriations Committee, Gaming Control Board Chairman William H. Ryan underlined the need to move the agency's Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement (BIE) from the gaming board to the Attorney General’s Office.

Republicans have long sought the change, comparing the current arrangement to putting judges in charge of prosecutors. Ryan told lawmakers that he’s barred from asking investigators about their activities, which is unworkable.

“We have a large contingent of employees who are not responsible to the board,” he said in response to questions from a Democratic member of the panel. “That can be dangerous and it’s not good management.”

1. The 2012 primary will still be held on April 24 and conducted with 2001 legislative boundaries, the state Senate's top Republican said yesterday. That's because the campaign season is too far along to do anything else, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, said. "There's nothing pending that will move the process along at this point in time," Pileggi said, referring to the legislative action needed to change the primary date.
The Legislative Reapportionment Commission said yesterday that it plans to meet next week to try to approve a preliminary map of 253 House and Senate districts to replace the one the state Supreme Court threw out earlier this year.

2. Amid speculation that the Corbett administration is trying to wean them off public support and push them down the road to privatization, the heads of Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh told a House oversight committee Tuesday that they’re still a value for money and, between them, pump billions of dollars into the state’s economy.
But the 30 percent, or $147.4 million funding cut that the Republican administration has proposed for the four, so-called “state-related” universities would have a debilitating effect on programs and staff but could ultimately lead them to increase tuition – a step that they said they hope to avoid.
“We are seeing the dismantling of a long, long commitment by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to higher education and its public research universities,” University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg told the House Appropriations Committee.

Because We Know ...
... you're positively on the edge of your seats with anticipation, we're pleased to inform you that House Speaker Sam Smith has filed his answering brief in the state Supreme Court case seeking to compel him to hold a special election for six empty House seats during the April 24 primary.

More astute readers will recall that, over the weekend, lawyers for voters in the affected districts (including one in the Lehigh Valley) filed a lawsuit, accusing Smith of "dereliction of duty" for not calling a special election, as required by statute, within 10 days of a vacancy.

Smith has said he's powerless to act until legislative mapmakers adopt a new map and the Supreme Court approves it. As we saw this afternoon, the chances of that happening are now roughly about the same as a reunion tour by The Smiths.

(Translation: That means not at all since former Smiths' lead singer Morrissey and ex-guitarist Johnny Marr have said it's never going to happen.)

Smith argues pretty much the same thing in his Supreme Court filing, adding, just for good measure, that the high court really doesn't have jurisdiction and if it ever did have jurisdiction, they handed it over to him.

To prove his point, Smith turned to a section of the high court's decision tossing the new legislative maps, in which the justices observe:

"We are not in a position to predict when the [Legislative Reapportionment Commission] will complete its task of developing a new legislative redistricting plan that complies with the law, not when such a plan can become final and attain the force of law. Any issues respecting deferring the state legislative primary, or scheduling special elections, etc., are, in the first instance, the concern and province of the political branches. Such questions have not been briefed and presented to this court."

So, y'know, he's got that going for him.

Amid speculation that the Corbett administration is trying to wean them off public support and push them down the road to privatization, the heads of Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh told a House oversight committee Tuesday that they’re still a value for money and, between them, pump billions of dollars into the state’s economy.

But the 30 percent, or $147.4 million funding cut that the Republican administration has proposed for the four, so-called “state-related” universities would have a debilitating effect on programs and staff but could ultimately lead them to increase tuition – a step that they said they hope to avoid.

“We are seeing the dismantling of a long, long commitment by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania to higher education and its public research universities,” University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg told the House Appropriations Committee.

Of the four university administrators, Nordenberg was the most blunt in his assessment of Corbett’s proposed 2012-13 budget, telling lawmakers that two years’ worth of reductions were “pushing us in the direction of being private institutions,” that cost more, offer fewer opportunities for students and are less engaged in their communities than public schools.

Penn State, Temple and the University of Pittsburgh would all see their funding cut under the administration’s budget plan. Lincoln, the smallest of the four schools, would be flat-funded under the $27.14 billion budget plan the administration unveiled on Feb. 7.

The Legislative Redistricting Commission ...
... met just long enough this afternoon to announce that they haven't reached an agreement yet on a new preliminary map of 203 state House and 50 state Senate seats. But they're meeting again next Tuesday where, goshdarnnit, they sure do hope they'll have an agreement.

Then, making like Ben Kenobi at the beginning of "Star Wars" they did their best Jedi mind tricks to deflect questions from Capitol scribes who wanted to know how it had all gone pear-shaped and whether an agreement was still possible.

"Discussions are ongoing and we'll meet again at 1 p.m. on Feb. 28," House Majority Leader Mike Turzai repeated over and over again, as if hoping that if he said it often enough that those pesky reporters would JUST GO AWAY.

"I can't comment," House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said a few minutes later.

"We are working to move the ball forward," Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa said, breaking up the no-comment monotony by at leasting trying to come up with new way not to say anything.

The 30 percent funding cuts to Pennsylvania's four-state related universities is "pushing us in the direction of being private institutions," a state House panel was told this morning.

The presidents of Penn State, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh went before the House Appropriations Committee this morning to defend their institutions and warn against the cuts in the administrations proposed 2012-13 spending plan.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson, Pitt President Mark Nordenberg and Temple's Ann Weaver Hart told lawmakers that if they were to make up the cuts through tuition, all in-state students would feel the pinch. But the administrators said they don't want to do that.

Lincoln President Robert Jennings, whose school is flat-funded in the Corbett plan, echoed those comments.

Erickson, in his first public appearance before lawmakers since the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal became public last year, also warned that the cuts would disproportionately impact students at the school's satellite campuses, who tend to be poorer and receive more financial aid than students at the main PSU campus.

Pitt's Nordenberg warned of similar impacts at the urban school's satellite campuses.

More to come.

In what's sure to be a standing-room only event, the House Appropriations Committee holds a 9 a.m. hearing on budget requests for PSU, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh,

The Corbett administration's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 calls for slashing taxpayer support for the four schools by $147.4 million, or 30 percent.

The schools saw their funding cut in the first Corbett budget by about 20 percent, down from the administration's more draconian proposal of 50 percent for fiscal 2011-12.

Lawmakers pressed hard to restore funding for the schools in 2011. But with Penn State's administration under the legislative microscope. it'll be curious to see whether there's a similar effort this year.

The House Appropriations Committee meets in Room 140 of the Main Capitol. We'll be there to provide live coverage throughout the morning. You can also keep track on the Twitter feed.

The rest of today's news starts after the jump.

Pennsylvania’s largest community of medical professionals has come out against legislation requiring women to undergo a mandatory ultrasound 24 hours before having an abortion.

In a Feb. 10 letter, Pennsylvania Medical Society President Marilyn J. Heine urged lawmakers to vote against the proposal sponsored by Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, because “it sets a dangerous medical precedent by legislating specific diagnostic protocols.

“For that reason alone, we oppose [the bill] and respectfully urge you to do the same,” Heine wrote. The medical society represents about 18,000 physicians across Pennsylvania.

Rapp has defended her legislation, arguing that it will help women make informed decisions before they decide whether to go through with an abortion.

Critics say provisions in the bill, which include a requirement that the view screen for an ultrasound to be placed within a woman’s field of vision is intended to make women change their mind. Rapp’s bill would allow women to look away from the display.

In addition, the doctor or technician who performs the ultrasound would have to verify in writing whether the woman accepted or refused opportunities to view the image of listen to the fetal heartbeat when it’s present and detectable. That documentation would be placed in the woman’s permanent medical record.

Critics further charge that the bill would require women, who already receive an ultrasound when they seek an abortion, to go through what would most likely be a second, medically unnecessary procedure.

And because most abortions take place in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, women often receive a trans-vaginal ultrasound, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina and maneuvered until an image appears, they said. 

Abortion opponents make no secret of their attempts to reduce the number of abortions. But they strenuously deny deliberately trying to inflict unnecessary distress on emotionally vulnerable women who might well be making one of the most difficult decisions of their lives.

"We'd rather view it as giving women the right to know and to make an informed choice," Rep. Matthew Baker, R-Tioga, chairman of the House Health Committee, and a supporter of the bill, said in an interview last week.

For more, and a copy of Heine's letter, click through.

A combination of overpayments in estimated taxes, the rollback of the Capital Stock and Franchise tax and the state's decision to fully embrace so-called "bonus depreciation" contributed to the roughly $288 million hole in corporate tax collections this year, state Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser told a Senate oversight panel this morning.

And Meuser's concerned, don't get him wrong. But when it comes to closing the loopholes that allow some companies to skate on their tax obligations here, he's not about to make any commitments.

"The governor is interested in long-term solutions not gaining headlines," Meuser told the Senate Appropriations Committee during a hearing on the agency's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. "The biggest question is our tax level. Companies go out of their way to avoid paying it."

Meuser said the Corbett administration is reviewing proposals to close some of the state's corporate tax loopholes, including one sponsored by Rep. David Reed, R-Indiana.

In a statement posted to his website, Reed said closing the loophole would "[place]every employer on an even playing field with the opportunity to succeed or fail on their own merits.

"No more taxpayer dollars for tax loopholes, bailouts and corporate welfare. These dollars should be used to lower existing taxes for all job creators," he wrote.

While he sidestepped taking a postion on closing tax loopholes, Meuser did allow that the state "is more engaged in determing if a company is taking a deduction."

From our Washington colleague Colby Itkowitz:

WASHINGTON — No Republican presidential candidate — not even Mitt Romney — can amass enough delegates to secure the nomination in the next two months.

In other words, when Pennsylvanians vote in the April 24 primary, the state will be in play.

In 2008, Pennsylvania was the epicenter of the political universe as then-candidate Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battled in a long, drawn-out Democratic primary that continued beyond Pennsylvania and stretched into early June.

Now it's the Republicans' turn. And it's more than likely that at least Romney and Santorum will carve a campaign trail through Pennsylvania this spring.

A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to secure the nomination.

The Republican National Committee only counts delegates who must vote for a certain candidate. By the RNC's measure, Romney leads Santorum 73-3. Many media outlets rely on The Associated Press, which blends both committed and non-committed delegates. By AP's count, Romney leads Santorum 105-71.

By either measure, even after delegate-rich Super Tuesday on March 6, the race will be far from over mathematically.

But here's where it gets tricky.

Unlike the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania four years ago, in the Republican primary in Pennsylvania no delegates will be awarded. It is what some call a beauty contest. On primary day GOP voters elect delegates who can support any candidate they'd like at the Republican National Convention in August.

"I'll be surprised if they campaign much here," state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said.

We'll be back later in the day with more news and updates.

Abortion-rights advocates are girding for a spring fight over a bill sponsored by a northwestern Pennsylvania lawmaker that they say is part of a concerted effort here and nationwide to chip away at a woman’s right to the procedure.

The bill written by Rep. Kathy Rapp, R-Warren, would require women seeking an abortion to undergo a mandatory ultrasound 24 hours before having the procedure. Under Rapp’s bill, the view screen would be positioned within the woman’s field of vision, though she would not be required to look at it.

In addition, the doctor or technician performing the ultrasound would have to verify in writing whether the woman accepted or refused opportunities to view the image or listen to the fetal heartbeat when it’s present and detectable. That documentation would be placed in the woman’s permanent medical record.

Advocates for the bill, called the Women’s Right-to-Know Act, say they’re trying to provide women with important information before they decide to go through with an abortion.

Critics say the bill would require women, who already receive an ultrasound when they seek an abortion, to go through what would most likely be a second, medically unnecessary procedure. They also say it mirrors a nationwide effort to legislate away Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to have an abortion.

Good Sunday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Welcome back to the Sunday Brunch, our weekly buffet of state news links, national and international stories and think-pieces designed to get your day started right. Think of this as "Weekend Edition" for the brutally hungover.

Here At Home.
The PAIndependent goes deep and long on the pension costs that are driving the Corbett administration's budget proposal.

The state’s contribution to its two, taxpayer-funded pension plans is increasing by more than $300 million in the newly proposed budget for 2012-13, up from $705 million last year to more than $1 billion in the fiscal year that will begin July 1, the online news service reports.

Gov. Tom Corbett had an earful for critics who say he's not doing enough about transportation funding and other problems, the Tribune-Review reports.
"For them to call on me and say, 'We need to fix this problem in the first 14, 13 months you're in office,' ... It's ballsy," the Republican said, adding that efforts to close a $4.2 billion deficit took up much of his first year.

In A Related Story ...
... A FREAKING HOLE IN A PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE COMMISSION BRIDGE tied up traffic for hours in the Lehigh Valley on Friday. 

It May Shock You ...
... to learn this, but former U.S. Sen. (and former Pennsylvanian) Rick Santorum is not a friend to Big Labor as rival GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney rather hilariously claims.

Pennsylvania Democrats, including Philly Mayor Mike Nutter and Lehigh Valley Exec Dahhhnnnnnnnnn Cunnninghammmmmm are ratcheting up the pressure on Republicans to call special elections for six vacant state House seats.

Get the rest of the day's headlines after the gap.

Pennsylvania Democrats ...
... are stepping up their pressure on House Speaker Sam Smith to call a special election to fill six vacant House seats, including one in the Lehigh Valley.

On Friday, Philadelphia Mayor Mike Nutter, Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald sent Smith a letter urging him to fill the during the April 24 primary.

In the letter, the elected leaders, all Democrats, tell Smith that there are as many as 250,000 residents "unrepresented in the House of Representatives at this critical time," and as "leaders of the counties lacking full representation, we are writing to ask for the immediate scheduling of the special elections to fill those seats."

With the vacancies, Republicans have a 110-87 advantage in House. Several of the vacant seats would likely be filled by Democrats. One of them, in the Lehigh Valley-based 134th District, was most recently held by Republican Doug Reichley, who is now a Lehigh County judge.

This week, Republican Arlene Dabrow, 73, of Lower Macungie, joined a crowded race for Reichley's seat. She'll face four Republicans who previously announced their intentions: Rob Hamill, Dennis Nemes, Ryan Mackenzie and Wanda Mercado-Arroyo. Patrick Slattery was the lone Democrat to file for the seat.

Read the rest of the story after the gap.

Good Afternoon, All.
If there was any doubt, it looks like the vogue for reform has passed and the wave of anger from the 2006 cycle has officially subsided.

We've just gone and checked the list of candidates from the Department of State, and if we're counting correctly, it would appear that seven of 25 state senators up for re-election this year are running without primary or general election opposition and seven more are running without primary opposition. That's more than half of the senators up for re-election this cycle.

In the House,at least 69 of 203 members are running without primary or general election opposition. A further 65 are running without primary opposition. If we're counting correctly, that's 134 of 203 incumbents without opposition.

The list starts after the jump.

We were wondering when this was going to become an issue. The Associate Press reports:

HARRISBURG _   In the Democratic race for state attorney general, Kathleen Kane is calling on Patrick Murphy to take the Pennsylvania bar exam.

Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
In what must surely be an object lesson in the importance of carefully picking your friends, we give you the tale of one Foster Friess, the deep-pocketed donor who's been bankrolling Our Rick's surprisingly enduring presidential campaign.

Yesterday, Mr. Friess made something of a splash when he told NBC's Andrea Mitchell that birth control was less expensive in Ye Olden Days because women just squeezed an aspirin between their knees to prevent them from making the beast with two backs.

Mitchell, who, to her eternal credit, did not reach through the television machine and smack Friess in the head, managed to more or less keep her composure. Friess has since put up a blog post apologizing for his remarks.

In case you missed it, here's exactly what Friess said:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The rest of today's news, which, if it mentions aspirin at all, only does so in the context of it being a sure-fire hangover cure, starts after the jump.

The top Democrat in the state House said Thursday that he wants the chamber’s Republican speaker to schedule special elections for six vacant House seats – including one in the Lehigh Valley --- that have been on hold since the state Supreme Court shot down new legislative maps last month.

In a letter made public Thursday, Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, asked Speaker Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, to schedule the special election to coincide with the April 24 primary. Dermody said voters in those districts have gone without representation for more than a month.

“This will not only aid the smooth operation of the House, but it will restore representation to the residents of those six districts,” Dermody wrote.

The vacancies were created when lawmakers, including Rep. Doug Reichley, R-Lehigh, were elected to local offices. Reichely, who represented the 134^th District since 2002, was elected a Lehigh County judge and took office in January.

(The rest of the story, and the full text of Dermody's letter, can be found after the gap.)