Weekly Wrap
The Capitol was buzzing with activity this week as the June 30
budget deadline is in sight.
Monday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee
held a public hearing to discuss Municipal Separate Storm Sewer
Systems (MS4) compliance. The Senate Appropriations Committee
reported out S.B. 1093 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon), which would
allow energy efficient lighting to be installed on outdoor
advertising devices.
In the House Health Committee, six bills were reported out:
- H.B. 629 (Toohil, R-Luzerne), which uniform
statewide time period for the distribution of Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); - H.B. 1475 (Krajewski, D-Philadelphia), which
would allow minors to access their birth certificates; - H.B. 2357 (Pennycuick, R-Montgomery), which
would prohibit the sale or distribution of kratom products to
individuals younger than 21 years of age; - H.B. 2293 (Bonner, R-Mercer), which would
require contract health care service agencies who provide temporary
employment in nursing homes, assisted living residences, and
personal care homes to register with the state; - H.B. 2579 (Roae, R-Crawford), which would
require the Department of health to create state written and/or
computer examinations for EMT’s, EMR’s and paramedics in
order to be state licensed; and - H.B. 2604 (Twardzik, R-Schuylkill), which
would amend the requirement for photo I.D. badges in health care
facilities to allow health systems and registered names with the
Department of State to be used on the badges.
On House floor, the following two bills passed finally and will
go to the Senate for consideration: H.B. 1935 (White, R-Philadelphia), which would
renew the authorization of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental
Cooperation Authority for the City of Philadelphia; and H.B. 2526 (Hennessey, R-Chester), which would
provide for the authorization of itemized capital bridge projects.
Conversely, the Senate sent S.B. 522 (Baker, R-Luzerne) to the House. The
bill would require prenatal parents and children ages one and two
to receive blood lead level testing that is covered by
insurance.
Tuesday, the House Insurance Committee reported out S.B. 1235 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would
prevent the Department of Human Services from utilizing bidding or
service zones that limit a health service corporation or a hospital
plan corporation contractor from submitting a bid for the
Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The House Urban Affairs Committee reported out H.B. 2665(Masser, R-Northumberland), which
would increase the cap on realty transfer tax revenues deposited
into the Pennsylvania Housing and Rehabilitation Enhancement fund
to provide additional funding for affordable housing resources. On
Wednesday, the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee reported
out the companion bill, S.B. 1254 (Vogel, R-Beaver). The Committee
also reported out: H.B. 2664(Brown, R-Monroe), which would
allocate $150 million in American Rescue Plan funds to the
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to ensure planned projects
reach completion; and S.B. 797 (Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would
expand eligible municipalities and projects within the Neighborhood
Improvement District Act.
Additionally, the Senate Aging and Youth Committee reported out:
S.B. 1227 (Baker, R-Luzerne), which would
encourage more use of in-home services for delinquent children and
provide transition aid to help youth move from residential
placements to their communities; and S.B. 1229 (Baker, R-Luzerne), which would have
the state reimburse counties for 50% of legal defense costs for
indigent juvenile offenders.
Then, the Senate State Government Committee reported out:
- H.B. 2447 (Benninghoff, R-Centre) which would
require the divestment of investments in assets relating to Russia
and Belarus by the State Treasurer, the State Employees’
Retirement System, the Public School Employees’ Retirement
System, and the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System; and - S.B. 1203 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would
prevent companies from receiving state contracts, grants, or state
tax credits if they do business with Russia or Belarus.
In the education space, the Senate Appropriations Committee
reported out S.B. 1283 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would
provide nonpreferred appropriations for Penn State University,
Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University.
Also, the Senate Education Committee reported out a concurrent
regulatory review resolution disapproving of Reg. #6-349: Charter
Schools and Cyber Charter Schools. The resolution then passed on
the Senate floor, which puts a temporary hold on the
Administration’s implementation of the regulation.
The House finally passed two bills of note that will now be
considered by the Senate: H.B. 1161 (Mizgorski, R-Allegheny), which
would establish the Pennsylvania Local Solar Program; and H.B. 2524 (Schmitt, R-Blair), which would
provide numerous updates to the Right to Know Law.
On Senate floor, the upper chamber passed the following bills
that head to the House for consideration:
- S.B. 811 (Fontana, D-Allegheny), which would
provide changes to the Municipal Claims and Tax Lien Law for the
City of Pittsburgh; - S.B. 1208 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would
provide for a defendant’s delinquent account to be turned over
to a private collection agency or the county’s collection
enforcement unit under certain circumstances; and - S.B. 1237 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would
extend temporary horse racing regulations by three years and give
the State Horse Racing Commission the authority to issue temporary
regulations to comply with federal law.
Finishing up the week, on Wednesday, the House Consumer Affairs
Committee held a public hearing to discuss H.B. 1789 (Sankey, R-Clearfield), which would
facilitate the process when consumers switch from default electric
and natural gas providers and ensure transparency in pricing.
The House State Government Committee reported out three bills of
note:
- H.B. 2648 (Lawrence, R-Chester), which would
establish the position of Special State Prosecutor under the Office
of Inspector General to investigate unemployment compensation
fraud; - H.B. 2649 (Grove, R-York), which would add two
appoints from the two majority leaders to the Independent
Regulatory Review Commission; and - S.B. 696 (Laughlin, R-Erie), which would
provide updates to the Breach of Personal Information Notification
Act pertaining to state agencies.
Furthermore, the House Rules Committee reported out:
- H.B. 2640 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would
exempt traffic signals and foundations, poles, and mast arms from
the sales and use tax; - H.B. 2645 (Peifer, R-Pike), which would
clarify the calculation of the bank and trust company shares
tax; - H.B. 2398(Oberlander, R-Clarion) which would
provide for the deployment of highly automated vehicles; - H.B. 2528(Struzzi, R-Indiana), which would
require the Department of Environmental Protection to prioritize
eligible Pennsylvania businesses for well plugging jobs; and - H.B. 2644(Causer, R-McKean), which would
allocate federal funding to support orphaned oil and gas well
plugging and update bond amounts.
As far as Senate committees go, the Senate Banking and Insurance
Committee reported out S.B. 1201 (Pittman, R-Indiana), which would
provide insurance coverage for early refills of prescription eye
drops. Also, the Senate Transportation Committee reported out H.B. 2139 (Warner, R-Fayette), which would
require the Turnpike Commission to notify E-ZPass account holders
they’ve been charged due to a transponder malfunctioning,
increases enforcement of unpaid tolls, and makes other changes
related to cashless tolling.
The House finally passed S.B. 709 (Tomlinson, R-Bucks), which would
provide for educational information regarding cytomegalovirus (CMV)
and require a parent to be offered a newborn child screening or
referral for screening of CMV if the child fails the initial
newborn hearing screening. The bill now goes to the Senate for a
concurrence vote before reaching the Governor’s desk.
The Senate passed the following bills that will now be
considered by the House:
- S.B. 447 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would
reduce the corporate net income tax rate from its current rate of
9.99% by 0.5% every year over a period of six years until it
reaches 6.99%; - S.B. 617 (Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia), which
would provide up to six weeks of protected, unpaid leave to an
employee to care for a sibling, grandparent or grandchild with a
certified terminal illness if they have no living spouse, no child
over 17 years of age or no parent under 65 years of age; - S.B. 771 (Aument, R-Lancaster), which would
reduce the corporate net income tax rate by 1% annually until it
reaches 6.99% in 2025, then provides for a further reduction to
5.99% if certain revenue collection amounts are realized in future
years; - S.B. 967 (Schwank, D-Berks), which would
establish the Women, Infants, and Children Advisory Board; and - S.B. 1199 (Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would
update the composition of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission.
Lastly, both chambers passed S.B. 915 (Browne, R-Lehigh), which would
provide for the Capital Budget Project Itemization Act. The bill
just needs the Governor’s signature before becoming law.
The Week Ahead
While not many committee meetings are scheduled at the moment,
it’s likely to be one of the busiest weeks of the year.
Monday, the House Education Committee will consider H.B. 2619 (Topper, R-Bedford), which would
establish a performance-based funding incentive for state-related
universities. The House Professional Licensure Committee will
consider H.B. 2679 (Hickernell, R-Lancaster), which
would make permanent certain regulatory waivers related to the
administration of COVID-19 and flu immunizations. Additionally, the
Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee will vote on H.B. 2157 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would update
provisions of the fireworks law pertaining to use, operation, and
setback requirements.
On Tuesday, the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency
Preparedness Committee will consider S.B. 1152 (Mastriano, R-Adams), which would
ensure that drug overdose incidents are reported into a mapping
system within 24 hours of encounter by first responders. The Senate
Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on
the state contract with Credentia to provide testing for certified
nurse aides.
The House Human Services Committee will consider two bills: H.B. 107 (Sankey-Clearfield), which would
require Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to enter into an
agreement to allow the Department of Human Services to recoup any
Medicaid funds which were spent on provider preventable conditions;
and H.B. 109 (Thomas, R-Bucks), which would
increase the penalties for making a false claim under the Medicaid
program.
Wednesday, the Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
will meet to release a report entitled “A Report on the
Limitations on Liability Under Pennsylvania’s Sovereign and
Governmental Immunity Laws”.
A full list of committee meetings can be found here:
In Other News
- PennDOT launched a survey to receive public feedback
on components of the proposed state plan for access to National
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program funds. - PennDOT invites the public to participate in a comment
period between now and June 30 on the draft 2023 Statewide
Transportation Improvement Program. - Governor Wolf announced nearly $20 million in PAsmart
Advancing Grants to expand access to computer science and science,
technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. - The Commonwealth received a $3 million federal grant to
eliminate barriers to the unemployment compensation system.
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