FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2008
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Rafferty Legislation Cuts Costs for State and Local Governments 

Harrisburg -  The House of Representatives has approved legislation sponsored by Senator Rafferty that will save the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over $420,000 annually as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for local police departments in the state.   

The bill amends the Vehicle Code to change the calibration testing requirements for radar guns utilized by the Pennsylvania State Police and police car speedometers for state and local police departments.   Currently, the radar guns and all police car speedometers must be tested every 60 days.  Under the new legislation, the time requirement is moved to once a year.  This requirement was established in law in 1961, and has not been changed to keep up with the new technology standards.  Some states have established a standard for such testing at two year intervals.

Senator Rafferty stated, "With a looming budget deficit, every little bit of savings for the taxpayers must be looked at.  I'm happy to assist both the state and local municipalities with this savings to their budgets."

As an example of the savings, each radar calibration test costs $82 every 60 days with over 850 radar guns used by the State Police – not to mention the cost of manpower to package and ship these guns every 2 months for testing.

The legislation now goes to the Governor for his signature.