News from Second and State

March 04, 2016

Weekly Wrap:

The second week of budget hearings have come and gone with no real fanfare and nothing especially earth-shaking to report. On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee heard budget requests from the Office of Attorney General, the Department of State, and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, as well as the Department of Community and Economic Development, where large part of the conversation with Sec. Dennis Davin focused on how the budget impasse is affecting the use of tax credits in the commonwealth. On the Senate side, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Labor and Industry appeared before the Appropriations Committee, as did the Department of Transportation, where Sec. Leslie Richards fielded questions on the use and delivery of multimodal funding, as well as the use of public private partnerships in Pennsylvania.

The Department of Transportation had its hearing with the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, as did the Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of Environmental Protection. Secretary of DEP John Quigley ran the gamut on environmental issues with the committee, discussing the Clean Power Plan, drilling, and air and water quality issues. The Senate held meetings with the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Aging, where Sec. Teresa Osborne talked with the committee about programs for Pennsylvania’s aging population, PACE and PACENET, and the rising cost of pharmaceuticals.

Wednesday brought another full day of budget hearings, and the issue of the day was funding for higher education. The House Appropriations Committee heard budget requests from the State System of Higher Education (this includes the Commonwealth’s 14 state-owned universities), the state-related universities (this includes the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Penn State University and Lincoln University) and the community colleges. The Senate Appropriations Committee also heard from the State System of Higher Education and the state-related universities; however, stepping away from higher education for a little while in the afternoon, the Senate also held a hearing with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, with much of the dialogue focusing on reducing costs and increasing efficiency. PEMA Director Richard Flinn discussed the state’s response to disasters such as winter storm Jonas, the 9-1-1- system and the use of volunteer fire companies.

Only the House was in town for hearings on Thursday, when they heard funding requests from the Department of Corrections and the Board of Probation and Parole, as well as the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs. A majority of Secretary of DOC John Wetzel’s testimony focused on the costs of housing per inmate and lowering overall expenses through more education and effective medical treatment. The week wrapped up with Kathy Manderino, former state representative, now Secretary of Labor and Industry, appearing before her former colleagues to make the budget request for her department. She concentrated on job training and vocational rehabilitation, as well as an increase in the minimum wage (Gov. Wolf has proposed an increase to $10.15 an hour).

Also in the world of employment issues, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed its first lawsuits arguing that gender bias by an employer includes discrimination against employees for their sexual orientation. One lawsuit was filed in Maryland and the other in Pennsylvania against Scott Medical Health Center. Under the current law in Pennsylvania, it is legal to discriminate in employment based on someone’s sexual orientation; H.B. 1510 (Frankel, R-Allegheny) and S.B. 974 (Browne, R-Lehigh) would both remedy this but have been parked in the House State Government Committee and Senate State Government Committee respectively since September 2015.

Read Governor Wolf’s statement on the lawsuit: https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-wolf-statement-federal-eeoc-lawsuit-pittsburgh-area-medical-facility-lgbt-discrimination/

Shifting to the energy sector, Rep. Steven Santarsiero (D-Bucks) plans to introduce a bill combating climate change. The legislation would amend the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act and set a goal of 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The House co-sponsorship memo can be seen here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=19762

Also, the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a public hearing on “Pipeline Safety Reauthorization Legislation.” Public Service Commission Commissioner Norman Saari testified on behalf of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

See Commissioner Saari’s full testimony here: http://pubs.naruc.org/pub/FB203BBE-9A6F-F79B-3A00-14859B9A0484

Finally this week, Rep. Marc Gergely (D-Allegheny) was charged with and pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from his alleged involvement with illegal gambling ring. It’s asserted that Rep. Gergely allegedly used his elected office to assist longtime friend Ronald “Porky” Melocchi in running an illegal poker machine business. Rep. Gergely can remain in office with the pending criminal charges but had to give up his chairmanship; Rep. John Galloway (D-Bucks) was chosen to replace him as chairman of the House Labor and Industry Committee.

Look Ahead:

More of the same should be expected in Harrisburg next week. House and Senate budget hearings continue through Thursday.

For a complete list of hearings go to:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/CMS/index.cfm?Chamber=H for the House schedule and

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/CMS/index.cfm?Chamber=S for the Senate schedule.

Also next week, on Wednesday, the House and Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness Committees will hold a joint informational meeting on programs and issues concerning the veteran, military and emergency services community. On the same day, the Commonwealth Financing Authority will hold its much anticipated board meeting where projects receiving funding are expected to be announced.

In Other News: