Sam Rohrer expected to lead conservative opposition to union forces

Former state Rep. and unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial hopeful Sam Rohrer may soon be coming back to Harrisburg, leading protests against continuing state government largesse to teachers and state employees.

Saturday, a number of progressives, public and private union members and other economic liberals will be on the Capitol steps at noon on in what is being called the “Rally to Save the American Dream.” The rally to continue the pattern of existing state practices is being sponsored by Keystone Progress, MoveOn.org, Color of Change, Democracy for America, Center for Community Change, and Progressive Majority.

With Gov. Tom Corbett, the man who beat Mr. Rohrer in the April GOP primary, scheduled to give his first budget address to the Pennsylvania General Assembly on March 8, the unions appear to be preparing for bad news from another freshman Republican governor.

Protestors in Wisconsin have shut down the government during the last week. (photo credit: Benji Pierson, WisconsinReporter.com)

Mr. Corbett is facing a budget deficit as high as $5 billion. He has promised to close that gap without increasing taxes or fees. The alternative is cutting state spending, more than one-third of which goes to salaries and benefits of state employees and government school teachers.

“In Wisconsin and around our country, the American Dream is under fierce attack. Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to Wall Street and the very rich and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response and vital human services. The right to organize is on the chopping block. The American Dream is slipping out of reach for more and more Americans, and we have to fight back,” said Michael Morrill, head of Keystone Progress, an organizer of Saturday’s planned protest rally.

Mr. Rohrer, who spent 18 years representing Berks County in the state House, was recently named state director for Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a national organization pushing an agenda of fiscal conservatism and government restraint.

AFP played a major role in this month’s rallies in Wisconsin, organizing to counter massive turnouts by state teachers and employees who swarmed the Capitol in Madison to protest Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s call for workers to contribute to their pensions and health plans.

The turmoil in Wisconsin has triggered similar protests, sick-outs and angry clashes over similar issues in Indiana and Ohio.

The New York Times said in an article Tuesday Mr. Phillips told them AFP executives had been at work – even before Mr. Walker was sworn in – encouraging a showdown between state employees and the government. AFP has operations in 32 states and had a national operating budget of $40 million in 2010, the Times reported.

Mr. Rohrer was a harsh critic of state government overspending, statewide property taxes and other fiscal issues during his time in the General Assembly and was acknowledged as one the most informed lawmakers on state finances and practices.

Heading the AFP in Pennsylvania, his job is to organize a broad, loosely affiliated group of citizens, fiscal conservatives, Tea Party activists and other into a force supporting responsible, limited state government.

At present, Mr. Rohrer is attempting to build a statewide outreach, advertising and communications network to build a coalition of the diverse groups sharing common interests, sources say.

Mr. Rohrer could not be reached for comment.