June 19, 2015

Weekly Wrap:

There are just 11 days between now and the June 30 budget deadline, and while it seems the General Assembly was busy this week, there wasn’t a whole lot, if any, budget related activity.

The week started out a little sluggishly. While the typical cache of committees met on Monday – Senate Appropriations, Senate Rules, House Appropriations – the floor was relatively quiet. However, things picked up on Tuesday, for sure. The House Finance Committee met to consider H.B. 1319 (Marshall, R-Beaver), which would provide for the establishment of “ABLE” accounts, which are tax-free savings account similar to a TAP529 account, but for people with disabilities. On the other side of the building, the Senate Transportation Committee met to consider S.B. 474 (Rafferty, R-Berks), which would require Senate confirmation of the CEO of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and  the Senate Judiciary Committee met to discuss S.B. 518 (Pileggi, R-Chester), which provides for the disposition of digital assets. Finally, the Senate Law and Justice Committee met to consider H.B. 189 (Sonney, R-Erie), which would provide for expanded direct shipment of wine; however, don’t expect this legislation to be part of the privatization debate. Sen. Charles McIlhinney (R-Bucks), Chairman of the committee, has indicated that direct shipment needs to be addressed, whether privatization of the state liquor store is or isn’t.

As for Tuesday’s floor activity, the Senate sent H.B. 182 (Grove, R-York) to the governor for his signature; the bill would allow pharmacists to give flu shots to children over the age of seven. The Senate also amended S.B. 352 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would update the Race Horse Industry Reform Act; the bill is now poised for final passage in Senate at any time.

Wednesday, the Senate State Government Committee met to consider Gov. Wolf’s GOTIME initiative, designed to increase efficiency in state government. The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee met to discuss the proposed Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable (CARE) Act, which addresses the designation of caregivers as people are admitted to and discharged from different health care facilities.

Also on Wednesday, the House finally passed H.B. 1276 (Watson, R-Bucks), which would close some of the loopholes in the Child Protective Services Law. The CPSL underwent a comprehensive overhaul last year in response to recommendations made by the Task Force on Child Protection, but implementation of some parts of the act has been somewhat challenging, warranting this year’s proposed amendments.  The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.

To read H.B. 1276, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1276

 

In anticipation of possible work on the state budget, both the House and Senate had scheduled session days for Thursday this week. However, they were both changed to non-voting session days, signaling that budget negotiations might not be as far along as we might hope.

A Look Ahead:

Monday will mark eight days until the budget deadline, and the House and Senate have scheduled seven and five session days, respectively, next week. Also expect  a heavy committee schedule again, starting Monday with a House Transportation Committee meeting to consider S.B. 385 (Pileggi, R-Chester),which would update the Transit Revitalization Investment District Act.

For more about S.B. 385, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20150&cosponId=15491

On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee will meet to consider two bills amending the Capital Facilities Debt Enabling Act: H.B. 928 (Mentzer, R-Lancaster), designed to slow the growth of the Commonwealths’ General Obligation debt, and H.B. 930 (Toohil, R-Luzerne),  which would lower the debt ceiling on RACP projects.

To read H.B. 928, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18183

To read H.B. 930, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18183

The House Consumer Affairs Committee will meet on Wednesday; on the agenda are three bills by the committee’s Chairman, Rep. Robert Godshall (R-Montgomery). The first bill, H.B. 48, would establish commonwealth-wide water well construction standards. The second bill, H.B. 965, would make amendments to the process for approval of regulations under the Regulatory Review Act. The third bill, H.B. 1326, would establish a process for determining the fair market value of a water or wastewater company acquired by a water or wastewater public utility for rate-making purposes. The committee will also consider H.B. 1241 (Brown, R-Monroe), which would address resorts that provide water service to private homes within the boundaries of the resort.

To read more about H.B. 48, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=15963.

For more on H.B. 965, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=17697

 

For more on H.B. 1326, go to:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18409

For more on H.B. 1241, go to:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=18155

Also on Wednesday, the House Local Government Committee will meet to consider H.B. 1331 (Ross, R-Chester), which would impose limitations on tax increases after a countywide reassessment.  In a similar vein, the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee will meet to consider S.B 877 (Argall, R-Berks), which would ban taxing entities from conducting “spot appeals” of assessments.  The Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee will also consider two bills on the issue of blight: H.B. 447 (Saylor, R-York) and H.B. 613 (Ward, R-Blair).

Check out H.B. 1331 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1331

And S.B. 877 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0877

Find H.B. 447 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0447

Find H.B. 613 here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0613

 

Finally, we could see the Acting State Treasurer made official sometime soon: the Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a public hearing on the nomination of Timothy Reese for Treasurer.

For a full listing of committee meetings, go to: www.legis.state.pa.us

To see what might happen on the Senate floor, go to http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/SessionCalendars/index.cfm?Chamber=S

And for the House, check out The Week Ahead: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015061865.PDF

 

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