State News-Thursday, Sept. 14th

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Republican Lynn Swann says he would use the governor's unique powers to rein in spending even before voters consider the spending cap he wants to add to the state constitution. Swann said yesterday he would limit the spending he proposes to the Legislature and use his line-item veto authority to rein in increases if lawmakers add too much to the state budget. Swann, who was endorsed Wednesday by a pro-business group called Pennsylvanians for Effective Government, has proposed a constitutional amendment to limit the growth in spending to an index based on inflation and population growth. Swann also acknowledged that he has extended the timetable for his plan to phase out the state inheritance tax from a maximum seven years to a maximum 12 years.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A year-long dispute pitting Pennsylvania's student-loan agency against three news organizations that want details about its spending is now in the hands of a Commonwealth Court panel. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency is arguing that the records contain protected trade secrets and personal information. It says that having 16 state lawmakers on its 20-person board provides an exception to the state Right-to-Know Law. A hearing was held yesterday by a Commonwealth Court panel that's going to have to decide whether to require the disclosure of 31-thousand pages of records. They include details about the agency board's meetings held at posh resorts in several states. The information is being sought by reporters for The Associated Press, and several other media outlets.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Ed Rendell's doctor says the Pennsylvania governor is a healthy man. Rendell's re-election campaign released a two-page summary of his July 17th physical at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, along with four pages of laboratory reports, in response to requests from reporters, . Doctor Geno Merli said in the report that Rendell takes Zocor to help control his cholesterol and Nexium for acid reflux but had"no specific complaints." It also says Rendell, a workaholic and fast-food lover, exercises 30 to 35 minutes a day and weighed 257 pounds. Lynn Swann, the Pro Football Hall-of-Famer who is Rendell's Republican challenger, said today that he too will release a similar assessment of his health but did not say when.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is nominating a federal court judge from western Pennsylvania to serve on the third U-S CircuitCourt of Appeals. If confirmed, Judge Thomas Hardiman would replace Judge Richard Nygaard, who retired. Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, both PennsylvaniaRepublicans, praised the nomination. Hardiman was born in Winchester, Massachusetts. He served as a judge on the U-S District Court in western Pennsylvania since 2003. He moved to Pittsburgh in 1992 and worked there in private practice before his appointment to the bench.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senator Rick Santorum's campaign is behind one of the most negative ads yet in Pennsylvania's Senate race. The statewide T-V spot shows actors playing big donors to the campaign of Democrat Bob Casey meeting around a table inside a jailcell. The ad opens with an announcer saying "Meet Bob Casey's campaign team," alleging that some big Casey campaign donors represented in the ad are under investigation. The Santorum campaign says the ad is being used to tell voters about Casey's character. Larry Smar is a Casey campaign spokesman. He says the ad is"about the most desperate and inaccurate an ad can get." Smar says the four men highlighted may have contributed to some of Casey's past campaigns before they were under investigation, but they have not given to Casey's Senate campaign. He says two have actually given to Santorum's Senate campaign, and one is now dead.