January 29, 2016

Weekly Wrap:

It’s more like News from Second and Snow this week, as a record-breaking snow storm dropped roughly 30 inches of snow on our capital city, causing state and city government shut-downs, road and street closures and trouble on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

As early as last Thursday, Gov. Wolf declared a disaster emergency in Pennsylvania, anticipating the need for cooperation between and among state agencies to keep Pennsylvanians safe during the storm. The emergency will remain in effect until rescinded by the Governor.

Read the proclamation here: http://www.pema.pa.gov/Documents/1/Governors%20Proclamations/2016%20Proclamation%201%200%20Jan%202016%20Severe%20Winter%20Weather.pdf

Snow continued to fall fast and furious over the weekend, causing travelers to be stranded on the Pennsylvania Turnpike for hours on end. Turnpike Commission Chairman Sean Logan offered his apologies and quickly launched an after-action review of the incident.

Read Logan’s remarks here: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016012598.HTM

And more on the incident review at: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016012696.HTM

Given the weather conditions, Gov. Wolf closed the Capitol Complex on Monday and Tuesday, while the House and Senate declared Monday a non-voting session day and returned on Tuesday for voting session.

The session days were busy ones, with a lot of action in the committees. Of note, the House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee held a public hearing on the Long-Term Care Partnership Program, and the House State Government Committee advanced S.B. 501 (Eichelberger, R-Blair), known to most as the “paycheck protection bill”. The measure would disallow the deduction of funds from public sector union employees’ paychecks, other than money that is specifically used for negotiating and administering a union contract. On the Senate side, the Senate Transportation Committee held an ironically well-timed hearing on S.B. 93 and S.B. 94 (Boscola, D-Lehigh) which address removing snow and ice from vehicles.

Most notably, however, was action in the House Judiciary Committee. The committee unanimously reported H.R. 659 (Everett-Lycoming) out of committee. The resolution is the first step in the impeachment process of Attorney General Kathleen Kane. A special subcommittee will be formed to investigate the allegations against and conduct of the Attorney General and then report back to the full Judiciary Committee its recommendations. (A similar resolution was introduced in the 1990s to kick off the investigation of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen). Members of the subcommittee include Republican Chairman Todd Stephens (R-Montgomery), Democratic Chairman Tim Briggs (D-Montgomery), Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D-Erie), Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming), Rep. Todd Nesbit (R-Mercer) and Rep. Tarah Toohil (R-Luzerne).

Read H.R. 659: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/CFDOCS/Legis/PN/Public/btCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&sessYr=2015&sessInd=0&billBody=H&billTyp=R&billNbr=0659&pn=2760

And speaking of special committees, the Special Committee on Senate Address released their final report on whether Attorney General Kane should be removed from office. After a series of public hearings, the committee found that the Senate should not move forward with the removal of Kathleen Kane from office. However, if the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decides not to hear Kane’s case or that her law license should not be reinstated, then the committee recommends a vote to remove her from office. Nevertheless, a Senator may still make a motion on the floor to hold a removal vote.

Read the Final Committee Report of the Special Committee on Senate Address: http://senateaddress.pasen.gov/files/2016/01/2016-01-25-Final-Committee-Report.pdf

A Look Ahead:

Neither the House nor Senate will be in Harrisburg for session next week. Monday marks the start of the first full week of nomination petition season, which officially kicked off on Tuesday. Candidates for public office (including incumbents) will have from January 26th through February 16th to obtain the signatures required to be placed on the ballot in the April 26th primary election. Anyone running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives must have 300 signatures; those running for the Senate must have 500. The signatures must come from registered voters of the same political party within the district where they are seeking election. Pennsylvania readers who are registered voters should expect to hear knocking on their doors very soon.

The following week, however, members will return to hear the Governor’s second budget address, to be delivered late in the morning on Tuesday, February 9th. Expect more information on that next week.

In Other News: