00:08 - Senator John

00:09 - gardener of Columbia

00:11 - county as part of

00:12 - your legislative district

00:13 - what sets it apart from other

00:15 - parts of Pennsylvania

00:16 - in your mind.

00:18 - First of all Larry thanks for.

00:19 - Having me Jean.

00:21 - Columbia county one of the

00:22 - sixty seven

00:22 - counties in the state

00:24 - but I've been a state

00:25 - house member and

00:25 - a state senator for

00:26 - almost thirty years now

00:28 - and while was a senator I

00:29 - represent parts

00:30 - of five counties.

00:32 - During that thirty

00:33 - year period I've always

00:34 - rep that represented

00:35 - Columbia county

00:36 - whether as a house member

00:37 - or senator or.

00:39 - Two biggest can

00:41 - unities are bullock and

00:43 - bloomsburg with bloomsburg

00:44 - being the county seat

00:44 - Burke's actually the largest

00:46 - geographical.

00:48 - A community and it's

00:49 - the area that I live in.

00:51 - But we also have the

00:52 - northern tier of beton

00:54 - and millville we have

00:55 - the southern section.

00:57 - Southern Columbia area

00:58 - catalyst area canopus grove area

01:01 - and so a very diverse.

01:03 - We have some very

01:03 - large manufacturers.

01:05 - We have a lot of

01:06 - small businesses

01:07 - we have an amusement park

01:09 - and we're just outside

01:10 - records collect a state park so

01:12 - lots of things to do and

01:13 - see in Columbia county

01:15 - whatever your legislative

01:16 - priorities been

01:17 - since you took office

01:18 - back in nineteen ninety three.

01:21 - A lot of it's been

01:22 - both economic development

01:23 - and community development.

01:26 - Ultimately people.

01:27 - Need to have a job

01:28 - they need to have

01:29 - good wages and healthcare

01:31 - and

01:32 - need to have a job within

01:34 - a close proximity

01:34 - to where they live

01:35 - so that they can

01:36 - better enjoy their life

01:38 - and so economic

01:39 - development certainly important.

01:41 - Community development as well.

01:43 - Whether it's

01:44 - making sure that.

01:45 - There's access to education.

01:47 - Whether it's access

01:48 - to the y m c a's and

01:49 - the different types

01:50 - of activities that they

01:52 - present.

01:53 - Whether it's access to

01:54 - recreational texts

01:55 - types of activities.

01:57 - And parks.

01:59 - Those sorts of things so

02:00 - economic divide equipment

02:02 - and recreational development.

02:03 - Now your majority

02:04 - whip for the senate

02:05 - Republicans just what

02:06 - are the responsibilities

02:08 - of that position.

02:09 - Basically two main

02:10 - responsibilities

02:12 - I assist the majority leader.

02:15 - So our majority leader is Kim

02:16 - ward prior to that

02:17 - it was Jake corman.

02:19 - So working with the majority

02:20 - leader when we're

02:21 - in session then

02:22 - oftentimes they're

02:23 - called off the floor

02:24 - that means I need

02:24 - to run the floor run the

02:26 - calendar

02:27 - those sorts of things

02:28 - and then the second

02:29 - to responsibility

02:31 - for the whip is in

02:32 - regard to the senate

02:33 - republican caucus.

02:34 - If there are issues or

02:37 - votes that are coming

02:39 - up whether it's on a

02:39 - bill or an amendment

02:40 - and leadership needs to know

02:41 - where where the

02:42 - caucus is on an issue.

02:44 - I'm the one that literally

02:45 - goes to each member and say

02:47 - hey we're going to vote on

02:48 - house bill one

02:49 - hundred are you for

02:50 - or you're against it do you

02:51 - have any concerns with it.

02:53 - Is this something

02:53 - you do fairly frequently

02:55 - taking this poll it is.

02:57 - Well it is and it isn't

02:59 - depends

03:00 - like June

03:01 - there'll be a number of

03:02 - issues you know June gets to

03:03 - be more busy and

03:04 - active with the budget and

03:06 - and just the legislation

03:08 - in general so.

03:09 - It it deals with the

03:10 - topic and and the timing.

03:12 - But I've enjoyed the

03:13 - trust of our membership

03:15 - and I've been very

03:16 - accurate in regard to

03:17 - my account.

03:18 - Now you're a member

03:19 - of several committees

03:20 - and one of them

03:21 - is the judicial Jerry

03:22 - committee so what have

03:23 - you been working on lately.

03:25 - Judiciary committee

03:26 - when you look at bills

03:28 - and policies frankly

03:29 - is one of the most.

03:31 - Busiest

03:32 - of committees out there.

03:33 - Senator Greenleaf

03:35 - was chair of that committee for

03:37 - thirty plus years.

03:39 - Certainly

03:39 - Lisa baker has taken

03:40 - it over and she's done

03:42 - a great job.

03:43 - A lot of

03:45 - criminal justice reform issues

03:47 - and that's one of

03:48 - those issues where the

03:49 - pendulum has swung

03:50 - back and forth in regard

03:51 - to that but we've.

03:52 - Accomplished a lot in regard

03:54 - to a criminal justice reform

03:56 - what do you mean by

03:56 - saying the pendulum has

03:58 - swung back and forth

03:59 - between what and what.

04:00 - I can remember when

04:01 - governor Tom Ridge

04:02 - was

04:03 - elected in nineteen

04:05 - ninety four he came in in

04:07 - nineteen ninety five

04:08 - and he called a special

04:08 - session on crime.

04:10 - We ended up in

04:11 - acting and forty some

04:12 - bills during that special

04:14 - session on crime.

04:15 - Many of them increasing

04:17 - mandatory sentencing

04:19 - making things a

04:19 - lot more challenging

04:21 - and then over time

04:22 - we found out that

04:24 - just filling up our.

04:25 - Jails.

04:26 - Wasn't the most

04:27 - productive thing so

04:28 - we needed to make

04:29 - sure that people were

04:30 - rehabilitated

04:32 - and that if they truly were.

04:35 - In.

04:36 - A way to be an active member of

04:38 - society that they

04:39 - are put out there.

04:40 - With the tools that

04:41 - they need to be that

04:42 - so that they don't go

04:43 - back into the jail system.

04:45 - Now I understand

04:45 - this senate passed the

04:46 - bill and I would assume

04:47 - that it went through

04:48 - the judiciary committee

04:50 - because it has to

04:51 - do with adding county

04:52 - judicial seats can you

04:53 - tell US what that's about.

04:55 - Well that is passed the senate.

04:57 - Does not pass the house yet.

04:59 - So we are working with the the

05:01 - chairman of the house

05:02 - judiciary committee.

05:03 - Specifically going back

05:04 - to Columbia county.

05:06 - Co cumbia montour

05:07 - county is a two county

05:09 - judicial district with

05:10 - only two judges.

05:12 - There has not been

05:14 - a judge added there

05:15 - in twenty five years

05:16 - or so why does it only

05:18 - have two judges

05:19 - so why is it overdo

05:20 - it is overdue.

05:21 - Just because there

05:23 - hasn't been that

05:24 - request put in so

05:25 - in order to add a

05:26 - judge and and this is

05:27 - true for at least three

05:29 - counties that are in

05:30 - that bill and I'm the

05:31 - prime sponsor of the bill.

05:32 - You need the county

05:34 - commissioners to

05:34 - write a letter and.

05:36 - Unanimously say

05:37 - that they support it.

05:39 - You need a letter

05:40 - from the president judge

05:41 - of the judicial

05:42 - district saying that the

05:43 - the judgeship is needed.

05:45 - And then through

05:46 - the the eo PC which

05:47 - is under the Pennsylvania

05:49 - supreme court

05:50 - you need to

05:51 - have them say that yes based

05:53 - upon the amount of caseload

05:55 - and things that are going on in

05:57 - that judicial

05:57 - district is warranted.

05:59 - Because that's how you justify

06:00 - adding more judges is by saying

06:02 - simply that the

06:03 - caseload demands it

06:04 - the caseload demands it

06:06 - and that justice will be served

06:08 - and the community will be served

06:10 - by adding a judge

06:11 - so the cases are

06:12 - heard

06:13 - in a responsible reliable time.

06:15 - Now you're also

06:16 - on the transportation

06:17 - committee so what

06:18 - does the future look like

06:19 - and that can

06:20 - net respect.

06:22 - Again

06:23 - senator langer halt so does

06:25 - a great job in regard to that.

06:27 - And we've been

06:28 - dealing with a number

06:29 - of issues some

06:30 - of it has to do with.

06:32 - Self-driving vehicles.

06:34 - You go out to the

06:35 - Pittsburgh area and

06:36 - carnegie mellon

06:37 - and a number of folks.

06:39 - Out there are

06:39 - one of the leaders.

06:41 - In the country.

06:42 - On on that issue.

06:44 - The infrastructure

06:45 - bill that was passed in.

06:48 - The US congress a year ago.

06:50 - Has providing a lot of

06:51 - money for electric car.

06:54 - Charging stations

06:55 - and.

06:57 - Millions of dollars

06:58 - hundreds of millions

06:59 - of dollars is going

07:00 - to be coming to

07:00 - Pennsylvania.

07:02 - To start to put

07:03 - those in all different

07:04 - corners of the state

07:05 - as that infrastructure

07:06 - already begun

07:07 - here in Pennsylvania

07:08 - are we adding these

07:08 - charging stations

07:09 - with his federal money

07:11 - I believe the money is just

07:12 - now coming our way so I think

07:14 - they are in the planning stages

07:16 - in order to do that.

07:18 - Obviously the tolling issue.

07:20 - The the the governor had.

07:22 - Through or a sort of innocuous

07:24 - board proposed

07:25 - at a tolling scheme.

07:27 - Lots of concerns

07:28 - in regard to that

07:30 - there's lawsuits in regard

07:31 - to it and ultimately as.

07:33 - Senator what does the

07:34 - governor wolf want to do

07:35 - he wanted to

07:37 - tall a number of Bridges.

07:39 - Around the state

07:40 - and those things

07:42 - normally happen and sure

07:44 - could frankly happen

07:45 - through the legislature.

07:45 - Under the constitution the

07:47 - legislature has the taxing

07:49 - authority

07:51 - and tolling is is

07:52 - along the lines of attacks.

07:54 - So.

07:55 - Ultimately we ended up.

07:58 - Agreeing as part of this budget.

08:00 - That

08:00 - the tolling

08:01 - scheme.

08:02 - Be put to bed.

08:04 - I'd like to talk about

08:05 - some of the projects

08:06 - that you've helped

08:07 - secure funding for

08:08 - especially in Columbia county

08:10 - and we all know

08:11 - that extreme weather

08:12 - and floods are in

08:13 - the news a lot lately

08:14 - so it occurs to me that you've

08:16 - worked on flood

08:16 - protection projects.

08:18 - In the bloomsburg

08:19 - area haven't yet.

08:20 - Yeah so bloomsburg

08:21 - is probably the largest

08:22 - community along the

08:23 - susquehanna river that

08:25 - does not have a complete

08:26 - flood protection system.

08:28 - Ultimately that is what we want.

08:31 - But we weren't

08:31 - able to get it we work

08:33 - with the army corps

08:34 - of engineers for

08:35 - over a dozen years

08:36 - they ultimately.

08:38 - Ended up not

08:38 - approving a project so

08:40 - we're doing it

08:41 - piecemeal we did it.

08:42 - A one four cannier.

08:45 - Secondly we did

08:46 - it for auditorium

08:48 - and we just a third

08:49 - floodwall extension

08:50 - to cover.

08:52 - The school district system.

08:53 - In bloomsburg

08:55 - and now we have just

08:56 - recently completed a study

08:58 - for a fourth extension

08:59 - of that floodwall

09:00 - but very important for

09:01 - the people bloomsburg

09:03 - and tele arbor viewers

09:04 - what auto Niamh is that

09:06 - I happen to know

09:07 - that is a big employer

09:08 - there isn't it what do

09:09 - they do here so Odin m

09:10 - is the biggest

09:11 - employer in bloomsburg

09:12 - it was known as

09:13 - McGee carpet company

09:15 - it's been in existence for

09:16 - over one hundred years.

09:18 - But you don't get into

09:20 - pretty well any

09:21 - vehicle and step

09:22 - on the carpeting.

09:24 - Without

09:25 - some of it passing through

09:27 - omnia

09:28 - it is a

09:29 - one of the nation's

09:30 - largest manufacturer

09:31 - of car and truck

09:32 - type of carpeting.

09:34 - Now what else is going

09:35 - on in bloomsburg as far as

09:36 - securing funding for for

09:38 - example a senior

09:39 - housing projects

09:40 - I understand that's

09:41 - been on the calendar.

09:42 - Yeah we had something

09:43 - known as balloons berg.

09:45 - Textile mills

09:46 - and bloomsburg

09:47 - mills was around for a

09:48 - long time but much

09:49 - like all textile type of

09:51 - companies they ended

09:52 - up going by the wayside.

09:54 - So we had blighted.

09:55 - Property there

09:56 - and the local

09:57 - redevelopment authority

09:59 - and housing authority

10:00 - community strategies

10:01 - group worked together

10:03 - and they are now be.

10:05 - I think it's the

10:06 - third or fourth.

10:08 - Affordable senior

10:09 - housing project

10:10 - and it is great because it's

10:12 - located in the

10:13 - town of bloomsburg

10:14 - it's close to the

10:15 - bloomsburg fair

10:16 - it's close to a grocery

10:17 - stores and banks

10:19 - and it

10:19 - truly is providing

10:20 - affordable senior

10:21 - housing which is much in demand.

10:23 - Now the town of berwick

10:25 - is it Columbia county

10:26 - as well and I understand they're

10:28 - facing a hospital closure there

10:30 - tell US what's happening

10:31 - yeah that's a very.

10:32 - Challenging or hospital

10:34 - has been around for.

10:36 - Close to one hundred years

10:37 - it's been a community hospital.

10:40 - We have a nuclear power plant

10:41 - just outside of the community.

10:43 - So it's important

10:44 - for that sort of a

10:45 - emergency protection.

10:47 - It was locally run.

10:49 - Around two thousand

10:50 - was transferred to

10:51 - community health systems.

10:53 - About a year and a

10:54 - half ago a private entity

10:56 - out of the Michigan area.

10:58 - Bought it.

10:59 - But now they're in the

11:00 - process of closing it so.

11:02 - We have a large

11:03 - group thirty to forty

11:04 - folks of community

11:05 - mine minded folks

11:06 - union folks.

11:08 - That.

11:08 - Hospital folks.

11:10 - And trying to figure out what

11:12 - we can do if possible to save it

11:15 - and if we can't save.

11:16 - It.

11:18 - How can we encourage

11:19 - other providers

11:20 - whether it's guy

11:21 - singer or other groups

11:22 - to come into the

11:23 - community to meet some of

11:24 - the needs to make

11:25 - sure that healthcare is

11:26 - served.

11:27 - Oh let's talk about some.

11:29 - Recent bills out there and

11:31 - there's one what

11:31 - that would certainly interest

11:33 - our viewers and

11:33 - it has to do with.

11:34 - Property tax relief

11:36 - on a one time basis

11:37 - for seniors what's involved.

11:39 - So.

11:40 - Pennsylvania like

11:41 - every other state got

11:43 - a lot of American

11:43 - rescue plan money and

11:45 - several billion dollars

11:46 - as part of this past budget.

11:48 - We had

11:49 - about two point two billion

11:50 - dollars that we

11:51 - had to figure out.

11:52 - How to spend wisely

11:54 - and certainly with inflation

11:57 - and other higher costs.

11:59 - Hit those individuals on a

12:00 - fixed income of the hardest

12:03 - and really are seniors

12:04 - that are living off

12:05 - of social security we

12:06 - are a small pension.

12:07 - Or on that fixed income and

12:08 - we figured they needed to help.

12:10 - We have a

12:11 - tremendously successful

12:12 - property tax and

12:13 - rent rebate program.

12:15 - Here in the state funded

12:16 - largely through the lottery

12:18 - and we figured it was a

12:19 - great way in order to funnel

12:21 - several hundred million

12:23 - dollars worth of tax relief.

12:25 - So

12:26 - anyone that normally

12:27 - applies for property tax relief

12:29 - should be getting about

12:31 - a seventy per cent bonus

12:32 - meaning there'll be getting

12:33 - what they normally get.

12:35 - Plus they'll be getting an

12:36 - additional seventy

12:37 - percent this year

12:38 - and if they've never

12:39 - applied we certainly

12:40 - encourage folks to

12:41 - contact your local state

12:42 - representative office.

12:44 - Local state center's

12:45 - office and make sure sure

12:46 - that you take advantage

12:47 - of this great program.

12:49 - Now during the

12:49 - pandemic certainly child

12:51 - care expenses have

12:52 - been a concern a major

12:53 - concern for pennsylvanians

12:55 - and I understand

12:56 - in a related piece of

12:57 - legislation that went

12:58 - along with the property

12:59 - tax relief plan

13:01 - there was something

13:01 - about a child tax credit

13:03 - for child care expenses that

13:05 - you claimed on your f federal

13:07 - tax return what's

13:07 - going on there.

13:09 - Yeah so this will really kick in

13:10 - when you do your

13:11 - taxes next year.

13:13 - But it is very important to.

13:15 - Where we need to

13:16 - make sure that we

13:17 - have enough workers

13:18 - in the workplace and we

13:19 - understand that the you know

13:21 - some of the problems is that

13:23 - during the pandemic

13:24 - a childcare places

13:25 - closed and didn't

13:26 - nest surly reopened.

13:28 - Because they didn't have the

13:29 - workers to come in and do that.

13:31 - So for those that are doing it

13:33 - and have the extra expense.

13:35 - We know that a tax credit will

13:37 - be important and will help to.

13:39 - Help them how parents to get

13:41 - into the workforce

13:42 - and provide for.

13:44 - Good call

13:45 - childcare for their kids.

13:46 - Last question senator

13:47 - we only have about

13:48 - thirty seconds left

13:49 - what do you hope to be

13:50 - working on in the coming months.

13:52 - We'll see what the next.

13:54 - Couple of weeks provide

13:56 - and we'll respond to it but

13:58 - certainly want to make sure

13:59 - that we're doing

14:00 - things in order to

14:01 - help the economy.

14:02 - Help workers and

14:04 - help to keep costs low

14:06 - here in our commonwealth.

14:07 - Sen John gardner

14:09 - Columbia county's one of the

14:11 - districts.

14:12 - One of the

14:12 - areas in your district

14:13 - you represent thanks

14:14 - very much for your

14:15 - time thanks Larry.

14:37 - I.