As 2016 draws to a close, so does the 2015-2016 legislative session. On November 30, the House of Representatives and the Senate adjourned sine die, and no bills will be introduced or considered until the new General Assembly is sworn in in January. This year brought a step in the right direction to bring civility and bi-partisanship back to the capitol: the state budget battle didn’t wage on for nearly as long as it did last year and some ground-breaking and notable initiatives were enacted thanks to a new found sense of cooperation. Let’s take a look at some of what happened over the last 12 months.

Highlights and Headliners

We’ve seen some groundbreaking bills become law this year. The legislature enacted a timely and balanced state budget, with a $31.63 billion dollar price tag. And, while $30 billion might not get you what it used to, this total included:

  • A $200 million increase in basic education funding, $30 million more for early childhood education, a $20 million increase in special education funding, $10 million more for early intervention services and an additional $39 million for higher education over the last year;
  • $31.2 million more for services to people with disabilities, and $80.4 million to continue efforts to reduce the waiting list for the intellectual disabilities community waiver program;
  • $20 million dollars to fight opioid addiction;
  • Just over $12 million new dollars for state police cadet classes; and
  • A roughly six percent increase in funds appropriated to the General Assembly.

Beyond the budget, the General Assembly legalized the use of medical marijuana in our Commonwealth (Act 16), and regulations are underway for license growers, processors and dispensers so as to bring medical marijuana to patients who have grown weary from waiting.

We also modernized our liquor laws (Act 39), expanding locations for wine and beer sales and allowing for direct shipment wine, extended liquor store hours and the sale of scratch-off tickets in liquor stores.

Finally, the Governor signed into law a bill authorizing the operation of transportation network companies or “TNCs” in the Commonwealth. Act 164 allows innovative companies to offer their popular app-driven ridesharing services in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

Energy Evolution

The energy and utilities sectors are among the most regulated in the country. The General Assembly put forth a number of initiatives to keep on top of energy issues as federal requirements evolve and our energy needs grow. The Federal Clean Power Plan requires states to develop their own plan to reduce carbon emissions, and this year the General Assembly enacted a bill that provides that the Department of Environmental Protection must transmit the State plan to the General Assembly for approval no less than 100 calendar-days before submitting it to the Federal Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

Also this year, the Pennsylvania Grade Crude Development Act was established (Act 52). The legislation creates a Council that will examine and make recommendations regarding the conventional oil and gas industry. Act 47 changes the way natural gas companies provide refunds to customers for overpayments as well as recoveries by the supplier for underpayments. The fee structure was also changed for shopping customers and natural gas distribution companies are now able to fully recover all costs related to the implementation of consumer choice through and automatic adjustment.

In other utility news, Act 12 establishes a process for determining the fair market value of an acquired water or wastewater system; Act 40 prevents ratepayers from being affected when a public utility company files consolidated federal income tax returns with its parent company; Act 50 exempts resort-owned water and sewer service from the definition of “public utility”; Act 154 changes the reference to sewer in the definition of “public utility” to wastewater; and, finally, Act 160 extends the effective date of the Underground Utility Line Protection Law (PA One Call) one additional year from December 31, 2016 to December 31, 2017.

We also welcomed some new top dogs to the energy (and environmental) world: Patrick McDonnell was nominated to serve as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection upon the resignation of Sec. John Quigley; the PUC welcomed its newest Commissioner, BIR alum, David Sweet; and PUC Commissioner (and former Chairman) Robert Powelson was elected as president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

Health and Human Services Happenings

This was also a big year in the world of health and human services. The new Pennsylvania ABLE Act (Act 17) provides a saving mechanism for people with disabilities, similar to the state’s successful TAP-529 program, the CARE Act (Act 20) helps keep our seniors at home with proper recording of information for caregivers, and the Work Experiences for High School Students with Disabilities Act (Act 26) helps our students develop the skills to participate in the real-world job market. The state also authorized a pediatric shift nursing rate increase, extended the nursing home assessment and the budget adjustment factor through June 30, 2018, and extended assessment on intermediate care facilities for the intellectually disabled through June 30, 2019.

 

This was a big year for pharmacies, too. Act 73 requires insurance coverage for oral chemotherapy medications and Act 95 provides for generic substitution of biosimilars.

The year’s end brought significant developments to our efforts to combat opioid addiction in the Commonwealth. After the Governor addressed a joint session of the General Assembly this fall, the administration and the legislature worked quickly and hard to enact some life-saving reforms. They are: Act 122, prohibiting emergency room providers from prescribing long-acting opioid painkillers in ERs and places a limit on prescriptions upon discharge; Act 123, enabling  Pennsylvania’s waste-to-energy facilities to provide destruction of pharmaceuticals; Act 124, amending  ABC-MAP to require that pain management and prescription practices related to opioids be included in professional education; Act 125, requiring a health care professional to receive written consent form a minor’s parent or legal guardian before prescribing a medical treatment containing opioids; and Act 126, requiring  licensing boards to implement a curriculum on controlled substance and opioids to be offered by colleges and providers approved by the licensing boards.

Endeavors in Education

This year we saw measures to improve public education beyond the funding increase. The Public School Code Omnibus Bill, now Act 86, included a new Program for Diabetes Management and established The Drug and Alcohol Recovery High School Pilot Program, the Administrative Partnership Grant Pilot Program and the E-chievement Program for hybrid learning.

Private schools may also be more accessible to students in coming years, as the omnibus bill increased the amount of tax credits available under Pennsylvania’s popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

Finally, Act 1 delayed the implementation of the much-debated Keystone Exams for two years.

Economic Expansion and Industrial Development

The Commonwealth has always been a leader in the agricultural and tourism industries, but as we move into the 21st century, new industries are coming onto the scene. We’re becoming a leader in energy, film, technology and advanced manufacturing, and our unemployment rate continues to be lower than the national average.

The Keystone State has always been a leader in agriculture, and that includes horse racing. This year, the legislature enacted H.B. 941 (Act 7) and H.B. 2303 (Act 114) to modernize our horse racing industry.  The Acts restructured the Horse Racing Commission and Harness Racing Commission into a single commission, updated guidelines for horse racing and pari mutuel operations in the Commonwealth and clarified the distribution of awards from the Pennsylvania Breeding fund.

It was often said about Pennsylvania that “America starts here.” The state has always enjoyed a robust tourism industry, and new developments will help keep it that way. This year, the Governor signed H.B. 1198 (now Act 84), which made comprehensive amendments to the Tax Reform Code, including a new program for Waterfront Development Tax Credits. With rivers, lakes and creeks aplenty, the tax credit will incentive private development along our waterways. And, when the lakes freeze over and there’s snow on the ground, Pennsylvania is a great state for skiing. This year, along with other historical reforms to Pennsylvania’s Liquor Code, the General Assembly enacted provisions to allow municipalities to hold a referendum as to whether or not a ski resort in that municipality may obtain a liquor license.

Incentives are important to attract high tech and advanced manufacturing companies to Pennsylvania, and this year, Act 84 also authorized the establishment of up to 12 more Keystone Opportunity Zones. This year’s state budget also recapitalized the popular Business in Our Sites Program to the tune of $75 million. Finally, Act 151 will modernize our Transportation Revitalization Investment District (TRID) Act and will bring new private developments to our mass transit hubs.

Job creation is a critical part of economic growth. This year the General Assembly passed S.B. 1064 (Act 11), which, on its face, seems like a simple land transfer bill, but was an integral part of a project that would bring a world renowned shipping company’s largest ground terminal and hundreds of jobs to our own Lehigh Valley. And, thanks to the passage of S.B. 1265, now Act 161, workers there and throughout Pennsylvania can now be paid by debit card.

Show Us the Money

We’re proud to say that over the course of the last year, we were able to secure $27,800,000 in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Projects funds for clients. These projects include the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvements projects. We’ve also helped clients obtain $8,287,137 in funds under the Multi Modal program and $74,824,671 in funds from programs overseen by the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Those funds are divvied up among grants totaling $21,764,671, low interest loans totaling $38,060,000 and $15,000,000 in loan guarantees.

Who’s Who and Who’s New?

This year was also an election year, and all 203 members of the House of Representatives, 25 of 50 state Senators and all three row officers were up for election.

In the Senate, we’ll have six new members come January:

  • Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) replaces retiring member, Shirley Kitchen (D);
  • Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) replaces retiring member, Lloyd Smucker (R), who now heads to Congress;
  • Mike Regan (R-Cumberland) replaces retiring member, Pat Vance (R);
  • Wayne Langerholc (R-Cambria) replaces retiring member, John Wozniak (D);
  • John DiSanto (R-Dauphin) defeated incumbent, Sen. Rob Teplitz (D); and
  • Daniel Laughlin (R-Erie) defeated incumbent, Sen. Sean Wiley (D).

The Senate will be comprised of 34 Republicans and 16 Democrats next session.

 

On the House side, expect to see the following new faces after the New Year:

  • Perry Warren (D-Bucks) replaces retiring member, Steve Santarsiero (D);
  • Anita Astorino Kulik (D-Allegheny) replaces retiring member, Nick Kotik (D);
  • Donald Cook (R-Washington) replaces retiring member, Pete Daley (D);
  • Justin Walsh (R-Westmoreland) replaces retiring member, Ted Harhai (D);
  • Dawn Keefer (R-Cumberland) replaces now Senator Mike Regan (R);
  • Carol Hill-Evans (D-York) replaces retiring member, Kevin Schreiber (D);
  • Frank Ryan (R-Lebanon) replaces retiring member, Mauree Gingrich (R);
  • Tom Mehaffie (R-Dauphin) replaces retiring member, John Payne (R);
  • Jonathan Fritz (R-Wayne) replaces retiring member, Sandra Major (R);
  • Kevin Haggerty (D-Lackawanna) replaces retiring member, Frank Farina (D);
  • Michael Corr (R-Montgomery ) replaces retiring member, Mike Vereb (R);
  • Eric Roe (R-Chester) replaces retiring member, Chris Ross (R);
  • Brian Kirkland (D-Delaware) replaces retiring member, Thaddeus Kirkland (D);
  • Alex Charlton (R-Delaware) replaces retiring member, Bill Adolph (R);
  • Zach Mako (R-Lehigh) replaces retiring member, Julie Harhart (R);
  • Morgan Cephas (D-Philadelphia) replaces retiring member, Lynwood Savage (D);
  • Chris Rabb (D-Philadelphia) replaces retiring member, Tonyelle Cook-Artis (D);
  • Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) replaces retiring member, Mark Cohen (D);
  • Isabella Fitzgerald (D-Philadelphia) replaces retiring member, Dwight Evans(D), who now heads to Congress;
  • Aaron Bernstine (R-Greene) defeated incumbent Rep. Jaret Gibbons (D);
  • Matthew Dowling (R-Fayette) defeated incumbent Rep. Tim Mahoney (D);
  • Maureen Madden (D-Monroe) defeated incumbent Rep. David Parker (R); and
  • Carolyn Comitta (D-Chester) defeated incumbent Rep. Dan Truitt (R).

The House will be comprised of 121 Republicans and 82 Democrats.

Finally, the Attorney General, Auditor General and State Treasurer were all up for reelection. Josh Shapiro (D) will take the Office of Attorney General, replacing current A.G Bruce Beemer, who replaced Bruce Castor, who replaced Kathleen Kane; Eugene DePasquale (D) was reelected to his second term as Auditor General; and Joe Toresella (D) will replace current State Treasurer Tim Reese, who replaced Rob McCord last year.

News from Buchanan:

This year, our Pennsylvania State Government Relations Practice Group welcomed Hannah Walsh to our team. A Bucknell University graduate, Hannah most recently worked for the Pennsylvania Medical Society and has expertise in health care, human services and pharmaceutical issues.

Check out the bios for Hannah and our entire Government Relations team here.

All in all, we are pleased to report that this was a busy and fruitful year for the Pennsylvania State Government and our PA Government Relations Practice. Come January, we’ll welcome a brand new General Assembly with stronger Republican majorities than ever and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf will mark the halfway point of his first term. We’re excited to see how things play out on this new political stage, and look forward to working with you in the new session. In the meantime, we wish everyone a happy holiday season, and a safe and healthy New Year.