COMMONWEALTH OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE HEARING

STATE CAPITOL MAJORITY CAUCUS ROOM ROOM 140 HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2009 2:10 P.M.

VOLUME IV OF IV

PRESENTATION BY PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS

BEFORE: HONORABLE DWIGHT EVANS, MAJORITY CHAIRMAN HONORABLE MATTHEW D. BRADFORD HONORABLE TIM BRIGGS HONORABLE H. SCOTT CONKLIN HONORABLE DAN FRANKEL HONORABLE JOHN T. GALLOWAY HONORABLE WILLIAM F. KELLER HONORABLE WILLIAM C. KORTZ II HONORABLE DEBERAH KULA HONORABLE BRYAN R. LENTZ HONORABLE KATHY MANDERINO HONORABLE CHERELLE L. PARKER HONORABLE JOSH SHAPIRO HONORABLE JOHN J. SIPTROTH HONORABLE GREG VITALI HONORABLE JAKE WHEATLEY HONORABLE JEWELL WILLIAMS

————————— JEAN DAVIS REPORTING 7786 Hanoverdale Drive • Harrisburg, PA 17112 Phone (717)503-6568 • Fax (717)566-7760 2

1 BEFORE (cont.'d): HONORABLE MARIO J. CIVERA, JR., MINORITY CHAIRMAN 2 HONORABLE GORDON DENLINGER HONORABLE BRIAN L. ELLIS 3 HONORABLE JOHN R. EVANS HONORABLE MAUREE GINGRICH 4 HONORABLE THOMAS H. KILLION HONORABLE DAVID R. MILLARD 5 HONORABLE RON MILLER HONORABLE SCOTT A. PETRI 6 HONORABLE DAVE REED HONORABLE DOUGLAS G. REICHLEY 7 HONORABLE MARIO M. SCAVELLO HONORABLE RICHARD R. STEVENSON 8 HONORABLE KATIE TRUE

9 ALSO PRESENT: 10 MIRIAM A. FOX MAJORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 11 EDWARD J. NOLAN MINORITY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 12

13 DEBRA B. MILLER 14 REPORTER

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3 NAME PAGE 4 MAJ. GEN. JESSICA L. WRIGHT 5 ADJUTANT GENERAL, PA DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS...... 4 6 DEBBIE STUBLJAR 7 DEPUTY FOR ADMINISTRATION, PA DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS...... 11 8

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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

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3 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: I would like to

4 reconvene the House Appropriations Committee

5 meeting.

6 I would like to say good afternoon,

7 Major General. How are you?

8 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Good afternoon.

9 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: A pleasure.

10 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you.

11 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Can you introduce

12 yourself and the other person with you for the

13 purpose of the record?

14 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Absolutely.

15 I am Jessica Wright, the Adjutant General of

16 Pennsylvania.

17 And this is Debbie Stubljar. She is the

18 Deputy for Administration for the Department of

19 Military and Veterans Affairs.

20 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

21 I'm going to start out with the questioning

22 right away.

23 As you know, probably the issue, I know at

24 least heard in my case a lot, is around the Scotland

25 School issue. And I would like for you to tell this 5

1 committee in a very specific way, why was that

2 decision made and that particular recommendation, and

3 I want you to explain why you think that decision was

4 made and what's your view in terms of alternatives to

5 address this particular issue.

6 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, the decision was

7 made strictly on a financial and fiscal decision.

8 As you know, there's $2 billion that we have

9 to make up within State Government. The Governor had

10 to make some very, very difficult decisions, and this

11 was one of the ones that he had to make.

12 So it is based strictly on money. It costs

13 $14 million a year to run Scotland School. That is

14 $45,000 a student.

15 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

16 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Because of that

17 reason, he felt that it was time to take a look at

18 whether or not there were other alternatives, and the

19 other alternatives are the public schools that we

20 offer all of the children in Pennsylvania.

21 So that is the alternative for those

22 attending Scotland School.

23 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

24 Have you ever thought about the idea of

25 making it a charter school? 6

1 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, I have heard

2 that there is a potential or a quest out there to

3 make it a charter school. That really does fall

4 within the Department of Education, and I'm sure they

5 will be able to answer the question on whether or not

6 that's an acceptable alternative.

7 That doesn't fall within my department,

8 sir.

9 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

10 What about -- and I know something that you

11 do have an interest in -- the Valley Forge Military

12 Academy. As they would call it, the West Point of

13 Pennsylvania. What about the chances of

14 Valley Forge, some kind of merger happening with

15 Valley Forge Academy?

16 I know Bryan was here, Bryan Lentz.

17 Unfortunately, he had to leave. But in terms of

18 Valley Forge, what is your reaction to Valley Forge

19 playing some kind of a part?

20 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, sir, I have a

21 huge interest in Valley Forge: one, that it is the

22 military academy of Pennsylvania; and two, that I do

23 sit on the Board of Trustees of the Valley Forge

24 Military Academy. I think it's a phenomenal

25 institution. 7

1 President McGeorge has already offered any

2 student of Scotland School a significantly reduced

3 rate should they want to come to Valley Forge.

4 The decision of whether or not Valley Forge

5 would partner with Scotland School in any type of

6 private partnership is clearly up to Valley Forge,

7 and that decision hasn't been discussed.

8 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: But you, you know,

9 because I look at these hearings, at least from my

10 perspective, kind of being solution oriented.

11 And I understand, when you started out, what

12 you said with the Governor, because I recognize it's

13 not just the Governor. The Legislature, we equally

14 have as much responsibility to address that budget.

15 So I don't want this to be a session where,

16 it's the Governor's problem; it's not our problem.

17 It is all our collective problems, so I understand

18 that first.

19 But I just put that idea out there to you,

20 because I was talking earlier to people like

21 Bryan Lentz who talked about the Valley Forge

22 aspect of it as maybe we could have that kind of

23 discussion.

24 You know, I have been out to Valley Forge.

25 I have visited. I have watched and seen what they 8

1 have done. As a matter of fact, they produced

2 that gentleman, Larry Fitzgerald, who was on the

3 Super Bowl---

4 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

5 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: The team that at

6 least played against the Super Bowl champs. But I

7 put that out there, because I know that my

8 understanding is the Military Affairs Committee is

9 going to have a hearing on March 11.

10 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir, they

11 are.

12 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: And I understand

13 the fiscal aspects. I want to be very clear. I

14 understand that if you don't remove something on one

15 end, you have got to figure out, how do you make it

16 up?

17 But what I'm also very much interested in is

18 the issue around the education outcome for the kids,

19 which we also should talk about, because what I've

20 heard, at least in the case of the city of

21 , is that they have talked about these

22 kids going to either existing high schools or to

23 charter schools, but they really didn't have a plan,

24 at least from some of the parents that I have heard.

25 And maybe you know about that or you don't. 9

1 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, sir, we have

2 had a couple of meetings with the parents. We had

3 one right after the Budget Address of the Governor,

4 and the Philadelphia School District was there and

5 they were prepared to work with any parent and offer

6 them alternative solutions to attending Scotland

7 School.

8 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Right.

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: We have recently had

10 another meeting with Philadelphia. It is really the

11 Department of Education that is running these

12 meetings with the parents, and they are working with

13 them individually to slot their student in the best

14 school possible.

15 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

16 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I understand that the

17 charter schools even extended their period of time

18 for application based upon the timeliness of the

19 Budget Address and then the time frame that they had

20 their particular deadline.

21 They have extended that deadline so if

22 parents and students wanted to apply for particular

23 charter schools in Philadelphia, they were able to do

24 that.

25 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: National Guard 10

1 members deployed this year, what type of support is

2 being provided for their families?

3 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, their families

4 are very important to us, and as you know, right now

5 we have 4,000 National Guard soldiers from the

6 Stryker Brigade deployed to Iraq.

7 We also have 2,000 members of the Combat

8 Aviation Brigade that are deployed to Fort Sill, and

9 they are preparing to deploy to Iraq.

10 And we have over 500 Air Guardsmen in about

11 13 different countries throughout the world. So

12 their families fall within our purview.

13 We have a multitude of Family Support

14 Centers throughout Pennsylvania that not only provide

15 services to Guardsmen families but provide services

16 to any military family that is out there.

17 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

18 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: They are operational

19 24 hours a day. The families can get in touch with

20 someone should they have any emergency.

21 We have a Family Support Network in every

22 unit that is deployed, and we have multiple

23 volunteers.

24 We have a Family Action Office that is at

25 Fort Indiantown Gap run by Cpt. Ryan Quinn, who 11

1 reports directly to my military personnel office. I

2 am in touch with him every day.

3 Whether a family is just in need of a

4 hot-water tank or whether a family has experienced a

5 loss like we have just experienced, our families are

6 important to us, and we pay attention to them each

7 and every moment of every day.

8 We also have the Military Family -- it's

9 called MFRAP. What is it, do you know?

10 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: It's the Military Family

11 Relief Assistance Program, MFRAP.

12 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: And it was

13 established by the Legislature, and it provides

14 emergency assistance for any military family whose

15 soldier has been deployed more than 30 days.

16 We have been able to pass out those loans

17 within about 24 hours -- excuse me -- pass out those

18 grants within about 24 hours based upon need. So it

19 is another benefit that Pennsylvania has offered its

20 military families.

21 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

22 With the reduction of State funds, what kind

23 of effect, you know, when we look at armory,

24 maintenance, Guard facilities, what kind of effect

25 will that have on any Federal money coming in? 12

1 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, you know, sir,

2 that our BEMAR line in this particular budget was

3 zeroed.

4 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Right.

5 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: The good thing about

6 this is it is a program that once our State budget

7 kind of gets leveled out, that it will be restored,

8 which is a positive.

9 BEMAR money is matched with 100 percent

10 Federal money. So if we normally get about

11 $1.3 million in BEMAR money, it means we would be

12 able to get another $1.3 million from the Federal

13 Government.

14 The very good news is -- that is set aside.

15 We won't be able to get that additional $1.3 million

16 because of the fact that our line was zeroed out this

17 year. But the good news is, with the economic

18 stimulus package that was recently passed,

19 Pennsylvania is getting $21 million worth of BEMAR

20 money -- it would be Federal BEMAR money -- that we

21 will be able to invest in our armories throughout

22 Pennsylvania.

23 Thirteen million dollars of that will go to

24 maintenance and repairs at Fort Indiantown Gap and

25 the others will be spread throughout the armories in 13

1 Pennsylvania.

2 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

3 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: The other positive

4 news is with the Stryker Brigade, we were able to

5 have multiple military construction projects within

6 Pennsylvania.

7 We were able to build 20 brand-new armories

8 and field maintenance shops. So a multitude of

9 armories have been touched with 100 percent Federal

10 money based upon the Stryker Brigade.

11 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

12 Monuments.

13 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

14 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: I noticed that the

15 line has been deleted. Why was that recommended?

16 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, really that was

17 recommended because that money goes every year to

18 France for the World War I Battle Monument. Not that

19 that's not important. All of our monuments, all of

20 our historical markers to our fallen heroes is

21 extremely important.

22 But that money is supposed to be put to good

23 use to repair that great monument that is in France.

24 France is holding $100,000 of our money that they

25 have not spent on that monument, and so I really felt 14

1 that if we had to take a cut and I had to recommend a

2 cut, that it would be more advantageous to take it

3 out of that portion.

4 I also---

5 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: So can we get that

6 $100,000 back?

7 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I would like to, sir,

8 but we can't. That was my question, too, sir.

9 If the money wouldn't have been cut, I would

10 have come to you and I would have asked for a change

11 in the language that would have said something like,

12 could we use that money in the , in

13 Pennsylvania, to recognize the fact that 17,000

14 members of the Pennsylvania Army and Air National

15 Guard have been deployed for the Global War on

16 Terror, and I think that they also need some

17 recognition here in the United States and a monument

18 to them.

19 Unfortunately, we are not able to do that,

20 but that's the reason that I recommended that

21 particular line be drawn down in this fiscal year.

22 And then after that recommendation and they realized

23 the issue in France, they zeroed it out, sir.

24 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: National

25 disasters, emergencies. 15

1 Obviously with a lot of our military,

2 National Guard, being deployed overseas, are we able,

3 from a capacity standpoint, able to deal with things

4 in Pennsylvania?

5 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Absolutely.

6 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

7 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: And I say that based

8 upon the fact that we really enjoy being one of the

9 three largest National Guards in the United States.

10 We have over 19,000 Guardsmen within the confines of

11 Pennsylvania.

12 So yes, there's a huge deployment going on.

13 It is our largest deployment since World War II, and

14 we have thousands of soldiers and airmen outside the

15 confines of Pennsylvania.

16 But even when we just had that huge

17 deployment and the inauguration was taking place and

18 they asked the Guard to step up to the plate through

19 the Commanding General of the Washington, DC,

20 National Guard -- his name is Maj. Gen.

21 Errol Schwartz; he conducted the operation for the

22 inauguration -- Pennsylvania sent the largest

23 contingency of Guardsmen down there, and we sent

24 1,300 soldiers and airmen to work the busing control

25 for the inauguration. 16

1 So even with those soldiers deployed, even

2 with going down and sending 1,300 to the

3 inauguration, we still had thousands of soldiers and

4 multiple pieces of equipment within Pennsylvania,

5 that if there would have been an emergency in

6 Pennsylvania, we could have reacted.

7 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: How many soldiers

8 do we have deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan?

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Right now, we have

10 over 4,000 in Iraq. We have only a few, probably

11 only about 50 in Afghanistan. We just brought

12 750 home from Afghanistan.

13 We just brought 450 home from Egypt. They

14 were doing the Sinai Peacekeeping Mission.

15 We have 2,000 that are at Fort Sill with the

16 Combat Aviation Brigade that will deploy to Iraq in

17 mid April, and our Air Guard is in about 13 countries

18 with about 500 airmen.

19 So all told, we are looking upwards of 6,000

20 soldiers that are within the deployment category.

21 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Okay.

22 I want to on a personal note thank you for

23 what you do, and all of your people and all of the

24 people who are in the National Guard what they do,

25 not just for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania but the 17

1 entire nation.

2 And, you know, I asked you these questions

3 not in an adversarial role in any way but in a role

4 that we are really trying to work together and see if

5 we can meet some common ground working with you and

6 the Governor to address some of these issues, and

7 these are issues that I think people want to know

8 about, you know, very legitimately.

9 And, you know, obviously I will get a chance

10 to ask the Secretary of Education the questions about

11 Scotland School and trying to figure out, you know,

12 is there a middle ground? Is there something we can

13 do about it?

14 I am obviously not going to be one who is

15 going to be trying to promise the people something

16 that we cannot produce. But we need to look at it

17 and we do need to ask questions line by line of

18 everything.

19 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

20 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: So I don't

21 disagree with the things that you have said that we

22 need to look at, because I think that's the way we

23 got to put a budget together.

24 You know, it will be tough, but we got

25 between here and June. And it's just a proposal at 18

1 this point. Obviously it will be up to the members

2 of the General Assembly if they decide to accept it

3 or not accept it.

4 So again, I want to personally thank you for

5 your leadership.

6 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you, sir.

7 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: I want to go to

8 Mario Civera, Chairman.

9 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: Thank you,

10 Mr. Chairman.

11 General Wright, welcome. Good afternoon.

12 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you.

13 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: In regard to the

14 Scotland School, I share some of the concerns that

15 Chairman Evans did. And we had the opportunity, and

16 I think he is on to something with the Valley Forge

17 Military Academy.

18 We were out there, I guess it was a year

19 ago, and there were some capital projects that we had

20 funded. The issue with the school is this, that the

21 students that are sophomores, juniors, and seniors

22 are now in a situation where we, as elected

23 officials, really don't have an answer for that

24 family.

25 So if we could, you know, explore something 19

1 that could be done with Valley Forge. That is

2 located in Delaware County. And I have parents that

3 live in my district, which I represent Upper Darby,

4 and that is right outside the city of Philadelphia.

5 I have grandparents, parents, that went to that

6 school, and they are very concerned about it. I

7 think that is something, an avenue, that we could

8 explore there that might work for us.

9 Let me go on to veterans' nursing homes,

10 because I have some questions for you on that.

11 It is my understanding that there was a cut

12 of $7.5 million on our veterans' nursing homes, about

13 an 8.8-percent reduction? Is that correct?

14 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir. That is

15 indicated in the budget. However, we will make that

16 up in Federal funding.

17 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: And how much is

18 that Federal funding?

19 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: The Federal funding,

20 I believe, is 24---

21 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: It is roughly $25 million.

22 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: $25 million.

23 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: And you are

24 pretty sure that you are going to receive that $24 or

25 $25 million from the Federal Government? I mean, it 20

1 looks like it is going to happen?

2 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir. We are

3 going to make that up through a program that we have

4 that looks at the Medicaid that we get for the

5 residents of the home.

6 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: But with the

7 $25 or $24 million, are you still down about

8 $13 million? Or are you---

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: No, sir.

10 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: No? We're okay

11 with that? Okay. I thought that we were down about

12 $13 million.

13 And do you believe that that will be enough

14 dollars to do all your maintenance and everything

15 that goes along with those, because I was concerned

16 about it when I saw that reduction.

17 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: And I was, too, and

18 then I took a look at the budget and how it panned

19 out with the Federal dollars.

20 We will absolutely provide quality care to

21 the residents of our homes. One of the things that I

22 thank the Legislature for, and I think I have done

23 this for the last couple of years, but it made such

24 an impact of how we do business, is the single-line

25 appropriation. 21

1 If you remember a couple of years ago, each

2 home had a separate line, and so I was unable to

3 transfer money between one line and another or one

4 home to another. With the single-line appropriation,

5 it really is one pot of money, yet each home gets a

6 budget that I assign to them to operate within that

7 single-line appropriation.

8 If necessary, we can transfer money now. We

9 can either make up differences, so it is an easier,

10 more efficient, more economical way to manage the

11 homes, and that has made a huge increase of how we do

12 business at the homes.

13 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: One more

14 question.

15 The dollars you are going to receive, is

16 that a permanent situation, or next time at this year

17 will we be reevaluating that again?

18 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: We are really looking

19 for this to be a permanent situation, to garner these

20 Federal dollars every year from those residents

21 applying for those benefits every year.

22 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: But you're not

23 sure?

24 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: No, sir, I can't be

25 100 percent sure, but I am hopeful that that is the 22

1 situation. That's my management -- that's what I'm

2 looking at to make this a success story.

3 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: And you are

4 comfortable with that coming that it will take care

5 of the maintenance and everything that we have to do

6 as far as, you know, keeping those nursing homes open

7 and working?

8 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Absolutely, sir.

9 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: Okay. Thank you.

10 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: You're welcome, sir.

11 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: Thank you,

12 Mr. Chairman.

13 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

14 Scott Conklin.

15 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: Thank you,

16 Mr. Chairman.

17 Thank you, General Wright.

18 I have a question -- actually we were

19 talking about, and Representative Lentz had to leave.

20 But Representative Lentz, many of his friends call

21 him Major Lentz, and as any good Marine, his wife,

22 who is expecting their second child, he had to leave

23 a few minutes ago to be with her.

24 But he wrote simply this. He wrote, as a

25 military school graduate, he is keenly aware of the 23

1 benefits, and he also believes 100 percent that it is

2 appropriate and critical for the State to have

3 support for the schools engaged in military

4 education.

5 His questions were this. The first one, the

6 Chairman already asked about Valley Forge. But his

7 second question is, and he just wants your comment on

8 it, when you look at the Federal mode of the

9 West Point, the way it is done in having legislative

10 appointments on the board, do you think it would be

11 appropriate for the State to look at this type of

12 mode to have legislative appointments on a board, to

13 include yourselves along with others, in having a

14 military-type school for our children?

15 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I'm sorry, sir. I

16 don't understand the question. Can you say it

17 again?

18 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: He was asking, his

19 second question was if you believe it would be

20 appropriate for legislative members to be a part of a

21 board when we are overseeing our military-type

22 academies within the State.

23 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: For the State

24 Legislature to have a say on whether or not someone

25 goes to West Point? 24

1 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: Just an appointee,

2 legislative appointments on that to run it closer to

3 the way that West Point runs their type of facility.

4 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: But for which school,

5 Valley Forge?

6 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: I believe. He

7 didn't finish, but I am guessing that that is where

8 he would be, because he does very much believe in

9 having these types of schools available, not just in

10 the southeast but have students that would be

11 available from all over the State to come to these

12 types of schools.

13 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I would say, sir,

14 that I think the issue there is that West Point is a

15 federally-funded academy; that when a Congressman

16 from Pennsylvania recommends that an individual is to

17 go to West Point, it is being paid for by the Federal

18 Government.

19 If a Legislator from the State recommends

20 someone to go to a Valley Forge, it is a private

21 institution, and funding still needs to be made

22 available.

23 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: That was the gist

24 of his question, not have it a Federal school but

25 have it run such as the Federal West Point does, but 25

1 have a State type of facility that would mirror a

2 Federal type of facility that would have funding from

3 the State.

4 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, I think it

5 would have to be funded by the State to do that in

6 order to have emphasis on an appointment from the

7 State Legislature. So it would evolve around funding

8 of that particular academy.

9 REPRESENTATIVE CONKLIN: Thank you.

10 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

11 Scott Petri.

12 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Thank you,

13 Mr. Chairman.

14 I'm going to move through some things pretty

15 quickly just to get some concrete follow-up.

16 When you were talking in response to

17 Representative Civera's questions about the veterans'

18 homes, I was concerned as well. But if I understood

19 what you said, you believe that we will be able to

20 draw down about $25 million this year for those

21 veterans' homes in Federal dollars? Or you are

22 hopeful?

23 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

24 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: The cut is

25 $7.5 million, so would not that necessarily put us 26

1 $18 million ahead?

2 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Go ahead.

3 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: There is inflation and

4 there is the cost of employee raises that are

5 currently in there for the union-covered employees.

6 There are other escalating costs that will have to be

7 covered by that money.

8 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: $18 million worth?

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, last year we

10 were able to draw down $12 million, so it really has

11 only -- that's what equaled out.

12 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay. So last year

13 -- now the math is getting a little closer.

14 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

15 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: You had $12 million

16 last year. This would be $25 million. That would

17 give you an extra $13 million. You are losing

18 $7 1/2 million and then some for inflation.

19 Well, if you could give us a detail on that,

20 because, look, we are looking for every single dollar

21 we can find to try and make this work. And if the

22 Federal stimulus is going to relieve Pennsylvania

23 taxpayers of some burden for a period of time, that

24 is great, but we need to take advantage of it in

25 order to get through our own budget. 27

1 The next question. On the Scotland School,

2 what is the capacity of that school as far as number

3 of students? Total capacity. Do you know?

4 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: The capacity is 320 in

5 terms of the number that can be housed in the

6 residential area.

7 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay. And how many

8 students are there now? I'm calculating roughly

9 311?

10 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: Roughly 280.

11 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: 280.

12 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: 280; okay.

13 But the total capacity is just slightly

14 higher than that?

15 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

16 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: That's correct.

17 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay. So there is

18 really no opportunity to bring that $45,000 figure

19 down substantially.

20 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: No, sir.

21 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay.

22 What is the student-to-teacher ratio?

23 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: That I don't know,

24 sir. I'd have to get back to you on that.

25 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay. If you can get 28

1 that for us.

2 As part of the evaluation, has anyone done

3 an evaluation of, you know, such things as the value

4 of the property? The impact on the local community

5 and its economy and the like? I mean, has that

6 already been done?

7 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: No, sir. That would

8 really fall to DGS, the value of the property. They

9 are the ones that manage -- once a school is closed

10 and the property is vacant, they would manage the

11 property.

12 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: But before we close

13 this school, shouldn't we have as a Legislature and

14 the Administration have the analysis of those kinds

15 of things? What is the impact to the local

16 community, what is the impact to families and the

17 like, so we can really make an intelligent decision?

18 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I can certainly get

19 to you the answer of the value of the property. I

20 don't know that I can get the impact to the local

21 economy. I can ask those questions.

22 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Yeah; I'm sure some

23 economist can project it and the like, and I'm sure

24 the local community would be glad to tell us what

25 they think the impact is going to be. 29

1 I noticed that there's an item in the

2 budget, a $1.1 million appropriation for facilities'

3 management and security, and I understand that has to

4 do in part with the Willow Grove Naval Air Station,

5 which is close to my district.

6 What is that appropriation intended to be

7 used for, and what kind of Federal money can we

8 expect for the Willow Grove Naval Air Station?

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, right now, the

10 Willow Grove Naval Air Station will remain the

11 Willow Grove Naval Air Station to 2011.

12 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay.

13 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: We are working to

14 turn it into the Horsham Joint Interagency

15 Installation, which will house in an enclave the

16 111th Fighter Wing, which is a Pennsylvania Air

17 National Guard asset.

18 It is $800,000 for Willow Grove that we'll

19 use out of the $1.1 million, and it is also $300,000

20 for police officers within Fort Indiantown Gap.

21 As you know, Fort Indiantown Gap is probably

22 the only installation, military installation, within

23 the United States that has open borders. And we,

24 based upon the deployments, now have three police

25 officers there. 30

1 We certainly needed to increase the police

2 officers at Fort Indiantown Gap, and so that

3 additional money is for the security and the police

4 officers.

5 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay.

6 The topic -- the last area -- the topic you

7 and I have talked about for the last two budget

8 sessions is the Disabled Veterans Real Estate Tax

9 Exemption Program. In other words, those veterans

10 that are disabled are supposed to be able to process

11 easily their forms and receive a real estate tax

12 exemption.

13 Over those past two fiscal cycles, I have

14 had a lot of complaints from constituents who say

15 there's a tremendous backlog. And correct me if I'm

16 long, but there's one person in your department that

17 processes those forms?

18 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: You're not wrong,

19 sir. That is exactly what it is.

20 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay.

21 If I recall, last year the backlog was

22 around 6 months. Is it still 6 months or is it

23 longer than 6 months now?

24 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: It's a little less

25 than 6 months. We have really worked diligently to 31

1 try to change that backlog.

2 The issue is, we don't just process the

3 forms; we need to verify the information on the

4 forms, and that does take a long period of time. So

5 that is where the holdup is.

6 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Okay.

7 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: We have taken a

8 couple of steps to alleviate some of the issues.

9 One is, when we get the applications in, we

10 perform a triage on the applications, if you will.

11 Some can be completed instantaneously, so instead of

12 taking them as a first come-first serve, where we may

13 have a couple of very hard ones that we're working

14 on, we triage them, and those that we can get in and

15 out the door instantly, we do.

16 Those that take a longer period of time, we

17 notify the individual that we have the application,

18 that there's an issue with it, that we are dealing

19 with it, and that we need their help. So the

20 communication process, though the application may

21 still take longer, the communication process with the

22 person submitting the application has improved

23 considerably, and they understand at least what is

24 going on.

25 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Are some of those 32

1 applications initially denied, or as you said, they

2 take longer because the applicant failed to provide

3 all the information?

4 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

5 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: One idea I would

6 suggest you consider, and I would certainly at least

7 be willing to do this, divide up those applicants by

8 legislative districts. Send us an e-mail:

9 Mrs. Jones, Mr. Jones, you know, is a disabled

10 veteran; his form is incomplete. Or at least suggest

11 to him that he can come into our districts and we'd

12 be glad to help him.

13 I talked to a constituent the other day; he

14 has been waiting 7 months, and as far as he knows,

15 everything is complete. And when we call, we are

16 being told, that's normal; we're working on

17 applications from July or whatever. And that is

18 where they are; they are working on applications from

19 July.

20 This is a program we promise people. It is

21 very important to these disabled veterans, and we

22 need to do better.

23 Thank you.

24 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir. And if you

25 talk to me off-line and give me his name, I will 33

1 certainly look into it.

2 REPRESENTATIVE PETRI: Thank you,

3 Mr. Chairman.

4 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

5 Bill Keller.

6 VICE CHAIRMAN KELLER: Thank you,

7 Mr. Chairman.

8 Before we start, I think I have to correct

9 the record for Representative Lentz. He is an

10 Army Ranger, not a Marine. I'm sure he would like

11 that read into the record.

12 General, the Pennsylvania National Guard is

13 very unique in that we have received the only

14 Stryker Brigade in the nation, right?

15 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

16 VICE CHAIRMAN KELLER: Every other was a

17 regular Army unit, and we have a Stryker Brigade in

18 the National Guard.

19 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

20 VICE CHAIRMAN KELLER: That is very unique,

21 and it brought a lot of economic development into the

22 State.

23 For years we have been touting how unique

24 the transportation system is in Pennsylvania. We

25 have transportation assets that no other State has, 34

1 and I know we have been working on it for a long time

2 -- Stryker reset.

3 Could you bring us up to speed on how the

4 Stryker reset is going and what opportunities that

5 would bring to Pennsylvania.

6 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

7 Stryker reset has to happen for all seven

8 brigades once they perform their mission in country.

9 So our Stryker Brigade, once it comes home, will have

10 to go through Stryker reset.

11 Because we are trying to turn Willow Grove

12 into a joint interagency installation, we felt one of

13 the things that could happen there is Stryker reset:

14 one, because of its connectivity to Pennsylvania and

15 the brigade; but two, because of the Port of

16 Philadelphia.

17 The port is someplace that could receive

18 those Strykers easily, and because the Strykers are

19 environmentally friendly and so very quiet, they

20 could be driven up the road to Willow Grove or the

21 joint installation and have the reset performed

22 there.

23 One, that will help the Port of

24 Philadelphia; two, that will help the brigade in

25 getting their Strykers reset; and three, it will help 35

1 the economy for Pennsylvania having that reset at

2 Willow Grove.

3 The Governor has written to

4 Gen. Ann Dunwoody, who is the Commanding General for

5 Army Materiel Command. I have followed up with

6 another letter to her, inviting her to Willow Grove

7 to see Willow Grove. We have talked to General

8 Dynamics, who will do the reset, and we have talked

9 to the program manager for Stryker.

10 So a decision has not been made yet. They

11 are looking at at least two sites within the

12 United States for Stryker reset, and we are hoping

13 that Willow Grove is the site, not only for

14 Pennsylvania but to do reset for some of the other

15 Stryker brigades.

16 VICE CHAIRMAN KELLER: Thank you. That's a

17 great opportunity, and I hope we can, with the help

18 of our congressional people, get that done.

19 Thank you very much, General.

20 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: You're welcome,

21 sir.

22 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

23 Gingrich.

24 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: Thank you,

25 Mr. Chairman. 36

1 And welcome, General. It's a pleasure, a

2 real pleasure to see you.

3 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you, ma'am.

4 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: And welcome,

5 Deputy. Thank you for being here as well.

6 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: Thank you.

7 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: Your home base is

8 at Fort Indiantown Gap currently. As you know,

9 Fort Indiantown Gap resides in Lebanon County, the

10 county that I represent.

11 And I do want to say that not only is

12 Fort Indiantown Gap our largest employer but also one

13 of our best community trustees, and it's a pleasure

14 to work with you on so many things that matter on a

15 local level and on a State level.

16 And I do want to commend you in your

17 leadership role and want to say that you make every

18 woman in Pennsylvania and in America proud, so thank

19 you.

20 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you.

21 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: These are critical

22 times; we all recognize that. And our

23 responsibilities here in this committee are to look

24 for value for the dollar. So I want to talk about

25 one of the funding cuts. 37

1 I talked about it earlier with our PEMA

2 folks, and I do want to talk a little bit about the

3 Civil Air Patrol.

4 Now, that funding is not large. I think

5 it is about $600,000. It was cut last year;

6 fortunately was restored through the process. It

7 is cut again.

8 I look -- I have some personal experience

9 with the Civil Air Patrol locally, and I have been

10 able to see what a vital resource they are and can

11 be, and I would hope that we would want to maximize

12 on that right now.

13 You talked about the deployments. We all

14 recognize that, and we realize how we are challenged

15 in that manner. So I see them helping in cases of

16 search and rescue and cases of disaster and

17 leadership development and all of those things that

18 are so important to building future leadership,

19 without a doubt. I've seen it happen.

20 I've seen two of our cadets, one now at

21 West Point and doing outstandingly, outstandingly

22 well, and one hoping to enter one of the academies

23 next year. So I have seen it turn around.

24 Did you request that the funding be cut

25 yourself? 38

1 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Ma'am, truly, when it

2 is not in the initial budget, when it is not in the

3 base budget, it is zeroed out. And so it has

4 historically been that once it is put in by the

5 Legislature and it is not in the base budget, it is

6 returned back to zero.

7 I do think the Civil Air Patrol is a very

8 worthy institution, and it has always been. However,

9 because it's not in the base, it is always returned

10 to zero.

11 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: And I realize the

12 critical nature of funding right now, but that makes

13 me ask another question.

14 Am I correct in that they didn't receive all

15 of their funding that they were allotted for this

16 year, and may I ask why?

17 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes; you are correct

18 in that.

19 We had several rounds of times where we had

20 to reduce our budget from our initial budget that we

21 received last year. I think it was three different

22 budget cuts in order to make a balanced budget.

23 And all of the programs within our

24 department took a cut except for two, and the two

25 programs that didn't take a cut was the VSO Grant 39

1 Program and was the DAVs, which they provide the

2 transportation to veterans.

3 So those were the only two programs that

4 really I did not recommend a cut for in this

5 particular budget year, not the budget that we are

6 talking about for the next year.

7 REPRESENTATIVE GINGRICH: I know we're

8 talking about two different situations, what they're

9 missing this year and what we can forecast for them

10 next year.

11 I would just like to go on record as that

12 amount of money being returned on your dollar that is

13 more than a hundredfold, especially in these times.

14 So I really appreciate your attention to

15 that, along with the multitude of other things that

16 you are dealing with. Thank you, General.

17 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, ma'am.

18 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

19 Siptroth.

20 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Thank you very

21 much, Mr. Chairman.

22 Just to follow up on Representative Gingrich

23 regarding the Civil Air Patrol.

24 Being a past cadet and senior member myself,

25 I certainly know the benefits of the Civil Air 40

1 Patrol.

2 We had, just prior to your arrival, we had

3 the Director of PEMA here, Mr. French, who testified

4 that the Civil Air Patrol does in fact play a very

5 important part in the emergency plan of the State of

6 Pennsylvania.

7 So I would just like that to be entered into

8 the record, and if you have any response to that,

9 General. I think I asked you that question last

10 year, whether or not you would be prepared and the

11 Guard itself would be prepared to assume all the

12 responsibilities that the Civil Air Patrol program

13 assumes.

14 If you would like to respond.

15 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, sir, like I

16 answered Representative Gingrich, I truly believe

17 they do play a vital function within our great

18 State. Whether it is the search and rescue that at

19 times they provide or whether it is the mentorship

20 and the leadership that they provide our youngsters,

21 they do provide a very vital role.

22 We, the Pennsylvania Guard, are prepared to

23 take care of all emergencies within Pennsylvania.

24 Saying that, I still also believe wholeheartedly in

25 the Civil Air Patrol. 41

1 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Thank you very

2 much, and I am sure that we will do our best to put

3 the funding stream back there again.

4 Let's shift gears and talk about the

5 veterans' service officer programs a little bit. How

6 successful has that been? How has the tracking been

7 on that? And then I have one other question.

8 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, sir, it's a

9 fairly new program, but I would say that it has been

10 extremely successful.

11 The Veterans' Service Organizations that

12 have received that money invested wisely. They have

13 a plan. They have an after-action report that they

14 must send to us and justify what they have done with

15 their money after their plan was implemented. And

16 they truly are advocates for veterans in the

17 standpoint that they have invested all of that money

18 towards increasing the benefits for veterans that are

19 within Pennsylvania, so bringing money into

20 Pennsylvania through the Veterans' Benefit Program,

21 and they have done an excellent job.

22 They, in concert with our veterans' service

23 officers within the department and the county

24 veterans' service officers, have brought a lot of new

25 money to Pennsylvania. 42

1 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: What has been the

2 increase in the number of VSOs from this time last

3 year when the program was first instituted -- was it

4 last year or the year before that the program was

5 first instituted? Do you have the number of

6 individuals that have received the appropriate

7 training?

8 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: I don't have that

9 number. I can get it back to you.

10 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Would you? Would

11 you furnish that?

12 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Absolutely.

13 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Okay. I just want

14 to do a comparison.

15 And one other thing.

16 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes?

17 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: There are various

18 benefits, veterans' benefits, across this country

19 that it appears that there is not a whole lot of

20 consistency.

21 For instance, the State of Florida offers

22 hearing apparatus for those that are hearing impaired

23 and Pennsylvania does not. Is there any correlation?

24 Are we not getting enough of the Federal dollars for

25 veterans to be able to redistribute that to other 43

1 programs?

2 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: No, sir. If the

3 State of Florida offers that as a State option, that

4 is being paid by the State of Florida and not the

5 Federal program.

6 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Okay.

7 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Whatever Federal

8 programs are available in Pennsylvania are available

9 in any other State. So if they offer a specific

10 thing that you know about that Pennsylvania is not

11 offering, then it has to be through their State

12 process.

13 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Okay. That

14 answers the question.

15 Thank you very much, General, and good

16 seeing you again.

17 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

18 REPRESENTATIVE SIPTROTH: Thank you,

19 Mr. Chairman.

20 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

21 Miller.

22 REPRESENTATIVE MILLER: Thank you,

23 Mr. Chairman.

24 Good afternoon, General Wright.

25 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Hi, sir. 44

1 REPRESENTATIVE MILLER: I understand that

2 there is $150 million in the Federal stimulus package

3 that is supposed to be used for extended-care

4 facilities for veterans.

5 Do you know, is that going to be directed to

6 our facilities that we have within your department

7 that we operate, or will that be available to all

8 extend-care facilities?

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, it is available

10 to all -- when I say it is available to all

11 facilities, it is available out there to be awarded

12 to any facility. Whether or not Pennsylvania gets

13 it, we still don't know.

14 We absolutely are looking to get part of

15 that money, but it is, I think -- I don't have the --

16 there is $150 million of construction within the

17 State for State veterans' homes nationwide. But

18 there is $1 billion worth of applications for that

19 $150 million.

20 REPRESENTATIVE MILLER: Okay. But if some

21 comes to Pennsylvania, it will be operated through

22 your department?

23 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

24 REPRESENTATIVE MILLER: Okay.

25 Then I have one other concern I would like 45

1 you to address.

2 Due to staffing, funding, or other issues,

3 it appears that some of our veterans' homes have a

4 provisional operating license. What steps are we

5 taking to remedy this?

6 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, our homes go

7 under multiple inspections -- DPW, the Department of

8 Health---

9 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: The Federal Veterans

10 Administration.

11 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: And at times, based

12 upon those inspections, they will have a provisional

13 license.

14 When a provisional license is given, there

15 are also reasons. Then we need to go back and

16 correct what deficiencies that particular agency has

17 found, and then they come back in and they inspect.

18 So once they give us the list, we correct

19 those. And then they come back in, unannounced, and

20 they go back through the facility and our license has

21 been restored.

22 REPRESENTATIVE MILLER: Okay.

23 Thank you for that answer, General, and

24 thank you.

25 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 46

1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Representative

2 Josh Shapiro.

3 REPRESENTATIVE SHAPIRO: Thank you,

4 Mr. Chairman.

5 And welcome, General.

6 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you.

7 REPRESENTATIVE SHAPIRO: I will be very

8 brief. Most of my questions were asked and answered

9 very well.

10 I want to just follow up on the Willow Grove

11 Naval Air Station issue for one more moment. It is

12 just outside my legislative district and obviously a

13 key part, a key issue, to residents in Montgomery

14 County.

15 I just was curious if you could comment a

16 bit on the runway. We have, obviously, a very

17 state-of-the-art runway there, and there has been

18 some concern that that runway might be used for

19 commercial traffic. I know that is not my position,

20 Representative Taylor's position, or others from that

21 region.

22 Can you just comment on the use of that

23 runway as you see it over the course of the next

24 number of years as we transition that base?

25 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir. 47

1 We clearly see it for military use or

2 associated-user use, and that would be something at

3 Willow Grove.

4 We absolutely -- and the Governor has said

5 this multiple times; I have said this multiple times;

6 those that are working right now in the transition

7 program at Willow Grove have said it -- it will not

8 be used as an FBO, a fixed base operator site, for

9 public aircraft, for private aircraft. It will not

10 be used as a commercial site for USAir or any major

11 airlines. It will not be used as a hub for FedEx.

12 Though I understand that some of the

13 individuals in Horsham Township do not -- keep

14 fostering that rumor that it is going to be used as

15 all of those things that I just said it would not be

16 used as, it's just not suitable for that.

17 It is really going to be used for military

18 aircraft, and if we lose a runway of that magnitude

19 in that place in Pennsylvania, we will never get a

20 runway like that back.

21 The importance of that runway in the event

22 of an emergency within Pennsylvania is monumental.

23 We have already used Willow Grove during multiple

24 State emergencies.

25 When Katrina hit, we used England Air Force 48

1 base outside of Louisiana, which was a BRAC

2 installation just like Willow Grove.

3 When 9/11 hit and we had the catastrophe in

4 New York with the World Trade Center, we used a

5 runway outside of New York City to bring supplies

6 in.

7 So that is the jewel to Pennsylvania.

8 That's the reason we need to keep that runway

9 operational for only the specific instances that I

10 have given you, not for commercial traffic.

11 REPRESENTATIVE SHAPIRO: Thank you, General,

12 and I appreciate your comments. I am very encouraged

13 by them, and we appreciate you stating that here on

14 the record today.

15 Unfortunately, some of the aforementioned

16 local officials are choosing to make an issue out of

17 this when there are no facts or reality base to the

18 comments that they made. So I appreciate you saying

19 that.

20 And I, for one, and I know that the

21 Administration shares this in large measure, believe

22 that we need to make this really just a hub that

23 Pennsylvania can be proud of for homeland security,

24 for the defense of our Commonwealth, and to help our

25 nation, particularly in this region, for catastrophes 49

1 like Katrina or 9/11.

2 So I thank you for your hard work on that.

3 I know that has not been easy. And please don't be

4 deterred by some of the local commentary down there.

5 We know where the Governor stands, and we know where

6 our elected leaders, like Representative Taylor,

7 stand, and we thank you very much for your comments

8 today.

9 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you, sir.

10 REPRESENTATIVE SHAPIRO: Thank you,

11 Mr. Chairman.

12 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Denlinger.

13 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: Thank you,

14 Mr. Chairman.

15 Good afternoon, General Wright, Deputy.

16 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir.

17 DEPUTY STUBLJAR: Good afternoon.

18 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: I have been told

19 I'm batting cleanup so I need to keep this brief, and

20 I will.

21 Just a couple of questions, if I may.

22 I understand that the Department of Veterans

23 Affairs has decided to establish services for

24 veterans who are dealing with ALS, or what is

25 commonly called Lou Gehrig's Disease. 50

1 I am wondering, how much funding will be

2 dedicated to this, and anything else you can share

3 with us about that direction.

4 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Well, sir, that is a

5 Federal program, and I don't have the numbers that

6 the Federal VA is going to distribute to that

7 program. I can certainly do some research and send

8 you a white paper on it.

9 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: If you could, and

10 if you could get back to the committee.

11 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

12 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: Thank you.

13 And then lastly, the department receives a

14 per diem, you receive a per diem reimbursement from

15 the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for providing

16 health care to veterans.

17 How much is the Federal per diem that is

18 received, and how much of the total cost does that

19 per diem cover?

20 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Sir, our Federal

21 augmentation for the homes is $58 million that we

22 receive to work the homes, and so part of that is the

23 per diem. I don't have the exact amount right off

24 the top of my head.

25 Pardon? Okay. 51

1 It is $75 a day per resident out of

2 approximately 275 total, on average.

3 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: So $75 a day out

4 of 275 in costs.

5 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Yes, sir.

6 REPRESENTATIVE DENLINGER: Okay. Which is a

7 rough equation, for sure, for your organization.

8 Okay. Thank you very much.

9 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

10 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: You're welcome,

11 sir.

12 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: Thank you.

13 Chairman Civera wants to make a comment.

14 MINORITY CHAIRMAN CIVERA: Thank you,

15 Mr. Chairman.

16 Before we leave today, I would just like to

17 announce that we have two members of the General

18 Assembly that are presently activated in the National

19 Guard, and it is Col. Scott Perry, I believe, and

20 Nick Miccarelli, who is a Sergeant. And both the

21 Chairman and I and the entire Appropriations

22 Committee are very proud of these two gentlemen, and

23 we hope that they come home safely.

24 Thank you.

25 MAJOR GENERAL WRIGHT: Thank you, sir. 52

1 MAJORITY CHAIRMAN EVANS: And I would like

2 to, Major Wright, thank you and all of the veterans

3 who are here and who have served our country for what

4 you do every single day, and we really appreciate

5 that.

6 And again, I want to thank you, and we will

7 definitely take your budget under serious

8 consideration.

9 Again, I would like to thank the members.

10 Right on time, 3 o'clock. It was a good day. We

11 start on Monday; 10 o'clock on Monday.

12 We thank the stenographer.

13 So this committee is recessed until Monday

14 at 10 o'clock -- 10 a.m. Thank you.

15

16 (The hearing concluded at 3:00 p.m.)

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25 53

1 I hereby certify that the proceedings and

2 evidence are contained fully and accurately in the

3 notes taken by me on the within proceedings and that

4 this is a correct transcript of the same.

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7 ______Debra B. Miller, Reporter 8

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