Harrisburg Hope forum at Midtown Scholar held Wednesday evening.

Pa Senator Mike Folmer on his plans to introduce legislation for the following:

Document #1 Description: Appointment of a Special Prosecutor to thoroughly investigate the financial transactions of the Harrisburg Authority, the City of Harrisburg, and Dauphin County to determine if criminal proceedings are warranted.

Document #2 Description: Amendments to the Municipal Authorities Act and the Local Government Unit Debt Act to ban the use of qualified interest rate management agreements – so called municipal “swaps.” To me, such transactions represent gambling with taxpayer moneys. For example, Harrisburg entered into eight swaps over a short period of time. Quoting the January 2012 forensic audit:

“Taken individually, many of the swaps do not make sense as a means of managing interest costs and/or protecting against rising interest rates. Collectively, the number of swap transactions alone raises questions regarding their relationship to a plan to manage interest rate risk or costs. Further, some of the swaps were inconsistent with each other and with principles of interest rate management. One swap reversed another that had just been entered into a short time earlier. In several instances, it appears the professional advisors were encouraging the Authority to take actions primarily aimed at raising short-term funds irrespective of whether the transaction was prudent or risk was being increased." [emphasis added].

Document #3 Description: Amendments to the Local Government Unit Debt Act to strengthen Department of Community & Economic Development oversight, require only legitimate “self-liquidating” projects be approved for municipal borrowings, and prevent certain risky practices.

Document #4 Description: Amendments to the Local Government Unit Debt Act to add criminal penalties for filing false certifications that municipal debt is “self-liquidating”.

Document #5 Description: Amendments to the Sewer Rental Act to require justifications for sewer rates and charges and imposing criminal penalties for violations. (The Harrisburg Authority may have both overcharged neighboring municipalities and failed to upgrade the system, which are issues currently in litigation). Apply these same requirements to water systems and water rates.

Medical marijuana: video:5712:

Photo/Dani Lucas