U.S. Rep.

Kathy Dahlkemper, D-3rd, Thursday urged fellow lawmakers to join her in co-sponsoring the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights.Chairwoman of the House of Representatives' Small Business Subcommittee on Regulations and Health care, Dahlkemper said the measure would provide increased protections against unfair and anti-competitive credit card practices."Especially during an economic recession, abusive practices like excessive credit card fees and soaring interest rates can be devastating for families across Western Pennsylvania," she said."With consumer credit card debt approaching $1 trillion, we need to take immediate action to give cardholders more control over their credit limits."The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights, among its provisions, would prohibit penalty increases of interest rates on existing balances unless a customer is more than 30-days late, ban double cycle billing and require all payments to be posted to account balances in a fair and timely way.State Sen.

Jane Orie, R-40th, has introduced legislation that would specifically require that a parent of a school-aged child attending a charter school be represented on the state Charter School Appeal Board.The Charter Appeal Board is a seven-member board that hears appeals from charter school applicants who have been denied at the local school board level.Currently, the law only provides for a "parent of a school aged child" but does not specify that the child be in a charter school."When the charter school law was written in 1997 there was no way to ensure representation of any charter school perspective," Orie said."There are currently 127 charter schools and 11 cyber charter schools so it is important to ensure that at least one Charter Appeal Board member is representative of the perspective of charter schools."State Rep.

Jaret Gibbons, D-10th, is seeking legislation that would require the state Department of Corrections to hold a public hearing before approving contracts with private vendors for community corrections services for inmates with prerelease status or who are on parole."Last year, the department accepted a proposal from a private contractor to open a privately operated community corrections center in my district in Wayne Township, Lawrence County," Gibbons said."Neither the private contractor nor the department provided notification to local elected officials, including myself. Without vigilance by members of the local planning commission, the facility would have been built and operational without any public knowledge or input."Gibbons' legislation, which he announced this week, also would require the department to notify the public when a hearing is to be held and list a contact number for people to call for information.Gibbons noted his bill would not apply to facilities operated by the Department of Corrections itself.-District Judge

Sue Haggerty of Saxonburg was recertified as a member of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System after completing her 2009 continuing legal education work.The weeklong instruction program in Harrisburg by the Minor Judiciary Education Board and the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts is required for district judges.