Recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Pennsylvania’s newspapers:

Boost voter participation with better absentee ballot laws

The Citizens’ Voice

July 30

County election officials across Pennsylvania disenfranchised thousands of voters in last year’s general election, not because of any chicanery on the voters’ part but because of obsolete rules embedded in the absentee voting system.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported recently that state officials rejected 4.2% of the 187,000 absentee ballots that Pennsylvanians cast in the 2018 general election. According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, that is the second-highest absentee rejection rate nationwide, behind only Delaware. And it is more than three times the national average rejection rate of 1%.

And the rate undoubtedly is worse than it looks. Counties self-report to the commission and two of Pennsylvania’s largest counties - Allegheny, with 941,028 registered voters for the 2018 election; and Bucks, with 457,235 registered voters - did not report any rejected absentees. Though Philadelphia County had more than 1,000 late absentee ballots, only 378 are listed in the statistics.

The commission reported that only 0.6% of all absentee ballots cast in November were in Pennsylvania elections, but the state accounted for 7.2% of all rejected absentee ballots.

There is no mystery surrounding the problem. Pennsylvania has the nation’s tightest deadlines for casting absentee ballots. Pennsylvania voters have until one week before an election to request an absentee ballot, which they receive by mail. But the completed ballot must be received by the local election office by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election - just three days between the request and submission deadlines.

Those deadlines were feasible in a different era, when most residents lived in cities and the postal service delivered mail twice each day.

This problem is easy to fix. The Legislature should expand the deadlines to count votes that are received by the close of voting on Election Day. And to further increase participation, the law should provide for “no excuse” absentee eligibility, which would enable more people to vote by mail.

The Legislature recently passed a bill containing some of those reforms, but Republican leaders could not resist including a provision to outlaw straight-ticket voting in a bid to boost their own electoral prospects, prompting Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to veto it.

When they return from their summer recess, lawmakers should pass a clean, straight-up bill to bring absentee voting into the 21st century.

Online: https://bit.ly/2Yj9q0v

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People have power to end epidemic of deaths on roads

The Reading Eagle

July 28

Sometimes things have to be placed in the right context in order for people to put it in the proper perspective. An excellent example of this was a recent Washington Post report on motor vehicle fatalities in the United States.

Most people are well aware that distracted driving is posing a serious danger not just to the motorists who engage in unsafe activities behind the wheel but to everyone else on the road. They also know that these and other dangerous practices are resulting in far too many accidents that cause death and injury. Yet far too few of us take these realities to heart when we’re driving.

The Post report explains the situation in terms that should get people’s attention. Since 2000, more people have died in car crashes on U.S. roads than the American death toll from World War I and World War II combined. That’s 624,000 traffic deaths since January 2000, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During the world wars, 535,000 American military personnel were killed.

These figures are particularly alarming when one considers the improvements in vehicle safety in the last decade or two. All the technology in the world can’t overcome human stupidity.

Taking all the numbers into consideration, it’s astonishing how difficult it is to bring about change in people’s habits. In addition to the highway deaths America has experienced since 2000, more than 30 million people were injured in crashes during that same period. Most of probably know some of the people included in those statistics. Yet dangerous practices persist.

In almost 213,000 of fatal crashes from 2000 to 2017, the drivers were above the legal limit for drinking and driving. More than 197,000 people died due to speeding. More than 220,000 of the people killed in crashes since 2000 were not wearing seatbelts. And nearly 78,000 people have died in crashes caused by distracted driving since 2000, according to a study by the American Public Health Association and government data. According to NHTSA, during daylight hours, 481,000 drivers are using their cellphones.

Cellphone use while driving caused 800 deaths in 2017. Most of those using them are talking rather than texting or dealing with emails, according to reports from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety determined that those who talk on a cellphone while driving are four times more likely to crash, and those who text and drive are up to eight times more likely to crash. The number of drivers who say they talk on their cellphones regularly or fairly often while driving has jumped 46% since 2013, according to the foundation.

And nodding off has caused more than 10,000 deaths since 2005. The AAA Foundation determined that drivers who had less than four hours of sleep had 11.5 times the crash risk.

Just increasing the speed limit has resulted in nearly 37,000 deaths over the past 25 years, according to the IIHS.

Despite these alarming numbers, the problems continue. Consider the justifiable outcry over the opioid epidemic. That crisis killed nearly 100,000 people between 2006 and 2012. During the same time frame, speeding, drunk and distracted driving caused 190,455 deaths. Yet there’s little outrage about that.

For an example of the depth of the problem, look no further than Lower Heidelberg Township, where leaders recently purchased 20 signs reminding people of the 25 mph speed limit in residential neighborhoods.

Township officials noted complaints about drivers ignoring stop signs and speed limits. Motorists are spotted eating breakfast, applying make-up and texting while operating a moving vehicle. To make matters worse, police said some Facebook users are interfering with efforts to combat the traffic violations by alerting neighbors when police vehicles are in the neighborhood.

There are similar problems taking place in communities all over our region, state and nation. Despite the clear danger involved, people simply don’t take these problems seriously.

As Maureen Vogel of the National Safety Council told the Post, “Unfortunately, our public option research has repeatedly shown that people still believe it will happen to someone else, but not to them.”

Everyone needs to follow the basic safety advice that people so often ignore: Keep your eyes and attention on the road. Keep your hands on the steering wheel. Don’t drink and drive. Wear a seatbelt. Stop driving if you’re feeling drowsy.

Drivers are entrusted with a machine that can easily cause death or injury to themselves or others. It’s time to start acting that way.

Online: https://bit.ly/2GGpvm9

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Data privacy violations need tougher punishments

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

July 31

The mishandling and misuse of consumer data has become one of the defining issues of the digital age. And so recent actions against the credit bureau Equifax and the social media giant Facebook were seen as a significant opportunity to set a course toward more meaningful accountability, security and privacy.

But the resulting settlements in both cases did little to ensure that consumers’ most sensitive information is not imperiled again.

Equifax was hacked in May 2017, exposing the personal and financial information of more than 147 million U.S. consumers. Exposed were Social Security numbers, home addresses and credit card numbers. In the aftermath, Equifax offered inadequate services to those affected by the breach, even deploying forced arbitration and trying to sell its identity protection services to customers. In response, a coalition comprised of 50 U.S. states and territories, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pursued legal action. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who spearheaded the coalition, confirmed that a number of consumers had their identities stolen or Social Security numbers posted online.

For its indiscretion, Equifax agreed to pay $700 million (roughly $4.75 per person affected) and strengthen its cybersecurity defenses. But for the 147 million people affected by this breach, does a $4.75 settlement and reactive policy changes make up for the value of the information that was revealed?

Facebook, meanwhile, has become notorious for its unethical privacy and security practices. Chief among these has been its collection and sharing of users’ data, offering sensitive information to third parties without people’s consent. These activities led to an FTC inquiry, resolved with a judgment earlier this month.

At first blush, the FTC seemed to slap Facebook pretty hard for its bad behavior - the company agreed to an unprecedented $5 billion fine and regular privacy reviews of new services and products. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as well as other compliance officers, must certify Facebook is abiding by the terms of the agreement.

But the settlement quickly drew widespread condemnation. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., claimed the deal “utterly fails to penalize Facebook in any effective way.” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the agreement a “sweetheart deal” that all but ensures “Americans will see our privacy violated again and again.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, wrote that the deal is “grossly inadequate to the task of protecting the privacy of technology users.”

The EFF noted that the settlement does not address Facebook’s practice of collecting, using and sharing user data, nor does it offer any mechanism for public transparency on how the company engages in this activity. Rather than force Facebook to change its business model, which runs entirely on exploiting users’ data, the FTC opted to hand down an impressive sounding but largely inconsequential fine (Facebook has assets nearing $100 billion) and require weak systemic change.

It is apparent that regulators do not currently possess the wherewithal to adequately address the abuses of user data by major corporations. The settlements with Equifax and Facebook are not painful enough to force either company to significantly change its ways.

There are several avenues for more meaningful recourse. The Justice Department has reportedly opened an antitrust probe against Facebook, while Congress is considering federal data privacy legislation akin to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.

But moving forward, data violations such as those found in the Equifax and Facebook cases must be met with more consequential punishments. For too long, companies have felt comfortable abusing users’ data, knowing that the punishment would pale in comparison to the potential gain. That attitude must change and, if necessary, regulators must make it change.

Online: https://bit.ly/2yqtZJh

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Praising smaller efficiencies that can be found in our school districts

LPN

July 29

The Eastern Lancaster County school board has agreed to share some services with Columbia School District for six more years, LNP’s Alex Geli reported in the July 21 edition of Sunday LNP. “The agreement, which stretches from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2026, extends a partnership between two districts on opposite ends of Lancaster County,” Geli wrote. “The relationship began in 2016 when they also shared a superintendent for one year.”

We applaud Elanco’s vote to extend its end of this partnership, and we urge the Columbia board to follow suit when it votes on the deal at its next meeting.

Elanco Superintendent Bob Hollister told Geli that he believes it’s a win-win for both districts.

We agree.

The deal involves the sharing of business, human resources and technology services between the two districts. Geli explains that it would require Columbia to pay Elanco $315,000 annually - a $35,000 increase from the previous agreement - to receive support from Elanco’s business manager, human resources director and information technology director, “in addition to (receiving) an on-site tech support specialist and a host of network services and equipment.”

Elanco business manager Keith Ramsey said that, under the unique partnership, Columbia would continue to receive “decades of experience and top-of-the-line equipment for a sharply reduced cost,” Geli reported. Columbia would have no need to hire full-time employees in those areas or purchase new equipment.

Partnering with Elanco has been a financial plus for Columbia. “Saving money has helped Columbia establish stronger financial footing, particularly regarding its general fund balance, a rainy day fund districts typically keep in case of emergencies,” Geli reported.

Added Hollister: “I think it’s been a great, symbiotic relationship where both sides are gaining.”

We need more of these kinds of partnerships and efficiencies in our schools and also in local government. We need - yes, we’ll say it - consolidation. As we have often bemoaned in this space, our state has 67 counties, more than 2,500 municipalities, 500 school districts, and more than 1,100 law enforcement agencies.

It’s too much. The inefficiencies give us headaches and cost taxpayers money. We’re all for local governance, but Pennsylvania takes it too far.

But the road to efficiency is bumpy. And the road to consolidation … well, it isn’t even on the map.

There are simply no easy ways, for example, to make the seismic changes that would bring long-term benefits for Pennsylvania’s public schools. PA Post’s Ed Mahon wrote earlier this year about the reasons why there is little momentum for consolidation: public opposition to closing schools; district boundaries being used as demarcation lines between wealthier and poorer communities; prohibitive upfront costs in joining districts together; and, finally, the reality that state lawmakers have little incentive to force the issue.

And so we’re mostly stuck with the status quo. It’s a status quo that leaves haves and have-nots among school districts and can be unfair to students and taxpayers. Our best hope for change from Harrisburg might be on the topic of school property tax reform; perhaps changing that unfair funding system would provide a simultaneous impetus for rethinking the need for 500 public school districts.

Until then, we must settle for the small successes. And applaud the small efficiencies, such as the pending extension of the Elanco-Columbia partnership.

No efficiency, no savings, is too small to be deemed worthy.

In a letter to LNP last week, Warwick Township resident Howard Snoke wrote: “I have a suggestion for district business managers. Each week, have staff members put together a detailed list of anything of value that has been approved for disposal. … It doesn’t cost the district one penny to send a weekly message to the other business managers to say, ‘We have this or that, and would you be interested in taking it? Please respond in seven days.’ “

We would hope - and suspect - that actions along these lines are already being taken by districts. If not, they should be.

We’d like sweeping change for Pennsylvania schools, but, in the meantime, we’ll have to be satisfied with what we can get.

Online: https://bit.ly/2YznJcF

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The new life in the death penalty

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

July 26

The death penalty is alive and well in the federal government.

On Thursday, U.S. Attorney General William Barr resuscitated the punishment that has languished since 2014 when the Obama administration began a review.

That review is complete and executions are being scheduled. The first five death row inmates who will be executed have been announced. Three are set to die in December.

So is this just another reversal of an Obama policy?

Not quite. It goes back further. The federal government hasn’t executed anyone in 16 years, according to the Bureau of Prisons. That’s almost as long as Pennsylvania has gone without an execution.

Kidnapper Louis Jones received lethal injection in 2003 at USP Terre Haute, the same prison where Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and murderer Juan Raul Garza met their ends in 2001.

Then this is a return to prior practice?

Not so much. Before McVeigh, the U.S. government hadn’t executed anyone since 1963. While states have wielded the needle, the electric chair and the gas chamber more liberally, the federal government has executed only 37 people since 1927. Texas executed 40 in 2000 alone.

The change comes from a Trump administration that has turned in different directions on crime during his first campaign and since taking office.

On the one hand, President Trump has advocated hard stances against criminals while also having son-in-law Jared Kushner work successfully on popular, bipartisan prison reform. In 2018, the president suggested drug dealers should get the death penalty.

“Other countries don’t play games. . But the ultimate penalty has to be the death penalty,” he said.

The announced list includes no Pennsylvania inmates, although Philadelphia drug kingpin Kaboni Savage is on federal death row, which has to be a more uncertain place to live than it was two days ago.

But Pittsburgh could be an early focus of a new spotlight on the federal death penalty because of Robert Bowers, who is facing 63 federal charges - 22 of them death penalty crimes - for the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in October. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty, but until Barr’s announcement, it was moot.

Now it’s not. Now a decision should be made, because the death penalty is no longer a distant threat. It’s a pending promise.

Online: https://bit.ly/2YjMZZ6

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