Shober ends year as CCAP president; group sets legislative priorities
Washington County Commissioner Harlan Shober recently wrapped up a year as president of County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania as the organization set legislative priorities for 2018.
He called the to-do list “trying to accomplish things on behalf of our citizens in all 67 counties.”
Flat or declining funding on the state level but more mandates for what are known as “human services,” Shober said, placed a burden on county taxpayers.
Included in the human services category are Children and Youth Services, programs for senior citizens, housing, mental health programs and combating drug and alcohol addiction.
“Counties get stuck in the middle,” Shober said.
Washington County Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan noted nearly 30 new child welfare laws enacted in 2015 caused a 35 percent increase in referrals and workloads for county child welfare agencies, without additional state funding to offset the demand.
“Those effects are compounded by the effects of the opioid epidemic on families and children throughout the state,” Irey Vaughan said in a news release.
CCAP seeks to partner with the Wolf administration and General Assembly to collaborate with counties to provide these services.
In adopting a special resolution to support the county commissioners’ legislative priorities, Washington County officials also agreed more funds need to be made available to:
- Prevent substance abuse and drug overdoses;
- Aid the state’s 800,000 veterans;
- Upgrade voting systems that are near the end of their useful life;
- Increase the number of forensic beds for county jail inmates with mental illness and developmental disabilities;
- Maintain the shale gas impact fee under Act 13 regardless of any discussion to place a severance tax on the natural gas industry for other purposes.