E-news March-2011

IDLCPA NEWSFLASH
Issued: March 2011

<<Click here for a full color printable PDF>>

PURE CARNIVAL‐ THANKS!

On behalf of IDLCPA we thank all of the sponsors, auction donators, volunteers (including student volunteers), WHIM night club, ASID, and IIDA and of course everyone that took
time out to support our cause and have a good time! With Superbowl buzz in the air, the chilly evening dedicated to carnival themed fun was quite the success. Over 250
designers, reps, friends, family and more came out to mingle and support the licensing efforts in Pennsylvania. Thanks again to everyone’s hard work and dedication to make
the 5th Annual Pure Party happen!

IDLCPA MAKES IT INTO WHIRL!

Check out our latest publicity! Whirl is a popular Pittsburgh magazine. It took us 5 Pure parties but we finally got in there!
http://www.whirlmagazine.com/2011/03/fifth-annual-pure-carnival/

POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

If you would like to make a donation to the PAC fund, please send a personal check made out to “Interior Designers’ PAC” and mail to:

IDLCPA
PO Box 44144
Pittsburgh, PA 15205

PAC, WINE AND PULP By Katie Nowak

On December 14th, over 30 supporters of the IDLCPA gathered at the James Gallery in the West End to raise funds for the Interior Designers’ PAC fund. Attendees were treated to a five course wine tasting from Dreadnought Wines that included vintages from Italy, Spain and the US including a crisp white Chardonnay, a hardy Merlot and a sparkling from California. Each wine course was paired with a delicious tidbit from Café Raymond in the strip. After folks got a taste of the Pumpkin Bisque appetizer, we were all eager to try each
and every course which included Apple and Brie on a toast point, Applewood smoked bacon with chipotle aioli, roast beef with bleu cheese cream and a decadent Valrhona chocolate brownie. We were also serenaded with wonderful music from Bob Krashna from Ceramiche Tile and his friend Mike Lowe. And to top off the evening, we enjoyed the current exhibit at the James Gallery, titled Pulp Friction. With cash and apron give always, it was a wonderful night! As always, we could not produce such a great event without our industry partners. We would like to extend a special THANK YOU to the sponsors for this evening:

• PPG Industries
• Betty Ginsberg
• Ceramiche Tile and Stone
• James Gallery

And I would like to extend a very special thanks to Richard King and Fran Colby. They worked very hard in putting this evening together and ensuring it went smoothly. You will remember they were the ones with aprons on, personally serving the food courses! All of the funds raised are going direct into the PAC fund. The PAC fund is a state monitored account that we use to make donations to legislators campaigns. This money is very important in order to get “face time” in front of the people that will push our legislation through. Unfortunately, the state does not allow us to accept corporate funds, so the only money we can put in our account is from personal donations. We work carefully with our lobbyist in Harrisburg to pinpoint key legislators to donate to, but we are typically asked for $250-$500 at a time. Even though we made $1600 at this event, it will go very quickly!

2011-12 PENNSYLVANIA BUDGET ADDRESS By Lydia E. Hollinger

Yesterday, Governor Tom Corbett presented his 2011-12 budget to the Pennsylvania state legislature. Promising to “spend less” because Pennsylvania has “less to spend” and to “tax no more because the people have no more to give,” Governor Corbett offered a $27.3 billion balanced budget based on four core principles: fiscal discipline, free enterprise, limited and transparent government, and reform.

Fiscal Discipline

• Governor Corbett defined fiscal discipline as meaning “no new spending” or:
• No tax increases
• Discontinuing the practice of borrowing from one fund to pay for another
• The elimination of “walking around money” or WAMS (for an estimated saving of nearly $800 million)
• Eliminating per diems for state employees
• Reducing the size of the state employee vehicle fleet
• Reviewing existing boards and commissions for wasteful spending
• Cutting funding for state-supported universities, holding them accountable for spending and performance
• Asking officials in public schools to hold the line on pay increases (could save school districts across the Commonwealth $499 million)
• Requesting state employee salary roll backs or freezes and increasing their contributions to healthcare benefits

Free Enterprise
Governor Corbett expressed a strong desire to create jobs in Pennsylvania and to “grow our way out of hard days” by:

• Advertising and marketing, here and around the world, programs that promote economic growth and job creation
• Consolidating the Department of Community and Economic Development’s (DCED) 127 programs to 56
• Providing tax credits to those who assist in improving Pennsylvania business and industry
• Improving the permit review process
• Creating a Marcellus Shale Commission (Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley will head)
• Retaining tax credits for new and growing industries

Limited and Transparent Government
“Limited government means not mistaking someone else’s property for your own,” Governor Corbett expressed. Later on in his speech he provided several solutions to the issue of transparency in government including:

• Creating an online budget “dashboard” – an online database that would “put citizens in the driver’s seat” allowing them to view the budget, track spending, and even track revenue sources from the comfort of their homes.
• Establishing a privatization task force whose main responsibility would be to determine unnecessary government
• Eliminating 1,500 state positions to reduce administrative spending by 10 percent over four years

Reform
Governor Corbett expressed a need to rectify scales that have “long [been] tipped out of balance by the quick fix and the easy answer.” He stated that “we [as Pennsylvanians] have an obligation to get things right” and proposed the following education, property tax, legal and tort reform, and regulatory reform measures in order to accomplish such:

• Providing quality education options, based on individualized learning, for students and families in both public and private schools
• Imposing economic furloughs in local school districts
• Increasing bid size limits
• Eliminating support of master’s degree salary “bumps” in school districts
• Allowing the citizens to decide how their local tax dollars property taxes are spent
• Minimizing the number lawsuits that hold a person, company or local government agency liable for 100 percent of damages halting jobs and increasing costs for business, healthcare, consumer goods and services
• Phasing-out the Capitol Stock and Franchise Tax so that in 2014 the tax is eliminated
• Eliminate backlogs and expediting the permit process

In addition to these four core principles, Governor Corbett also addressed public health and safety, proposing the following:

• The expansion of crime and violence prevention efforts
• Maintaining and funding two new classes of PA State Police
• Allocating funds for the Safe School Initiative
• Focusing on services and treatment programs that promote the management of rare diseases, emergency
• preparedness, cancer screening, and child health programs
• Funding programs that provide assistance to our military troops and veterans
• Reevaluating Pennsylvania’s Medicaid programs – making it consistent with other state Medicaid
• programs and ensuring that only those who are truly in need are receiving access
• Reevaluating Pennsylvania’s long-term living system
• Combining criminal justice programs

Overall, Governor Tom Corbett’s 2011-12 budget proposed a 3 percent budget cut from the current state spending plan. The month of March will busy the Senate and the House of Representatives with budget hearings. They will listen to the testimonies of each state agency and before long each chamber will propose a budget to be voted upon. In the meantime, we will be attending any and all budget hearings that relate to your industry and we will be in contact with any information we may receive of relevance. Should you have any questions regarding Governor Tom Corbett’s budget address or, if you would like more information in regard to what you have read this afternoon, please be in contact. We have an open door policy and are always available to assist you in any way that we can.