STATE COLLEGE, CENTRE COUNTY - The state senate passes Senator Jake Corman's bill which would keep Penn State's sanction payments in Pennsylvania.
Sanctions against the school were handed down last summer. Included, a NCAA fine of 60 million dollars. The money will go toward child sex abuse prevention programs. If Corman's bill passes through the house and Governor Corbett signs off on it, all that money will go towards programs in
Pennsylvania.
WTAJ News found that the bill is getting rave reviews around Centre County.
Everyone we talked to, from "Penn Staters" to Pennsylvania residents love the fact that the sanction money could be kept here in Pennsylvania. But depending on who you ask, you'd get a different reason why.
Penn State Junior Robert Weaver likes Corman's bill which would keep Penn State's sanction money in state.
"The money came out of of all the people in PA. They're paying it out of their taxes, I feel like with that money, it should stay in PA..."
The bill passed through the state senate, and now heads to the house. Weaver thinks it has a shot of passing there too.
"Since it's a state issue I think it should stay here it doesn't affect anyone else, and there's plenty of people here that could use that money and it could go towards many great things."
Erin Ewing's from Philadelphia and wants state money, from a state school, to go towards PA programs. Not just because taxpayers are the ones paying, but because she says those programs here are the most affected by the Sandusky scandal.
"Since the people here have seen it first hand, that they know how to deal with it better, and not necessarily better than other states, but they have more incentive I guess to give back to those people."
Weaver says he knows people affected by Jerry Sandusky's crimes. He thinks if the Sandusky scandal caused Penn State to pay the money, then the money should go to help Sandusky's victims involved here in state sex abuse prevention programs.
"...Maybe they are still involved, maybe they aren't. But if they were and it could benefit them, it would be even better cause you could see hands on how a person that [went] through the tragedy and had the money that was going towards helping them, benefit them."
If the bill is passed in the state house, it'll be up to Governor Corbett to sign off on it. A likely scenario, considering he's already supported the bill in the past.
