The Week Ahead

After a nearly month-long recess, the House of Representatives and Senate are back in session on Monday. Although the legislative session continues through next November, legislators will be eager to wrap up some important issues before the end of the calendar year. Currently, the House has 18 session days scheduled for the remainder of 2019 while the Senate has 12, giving each chamber ample opportunity to move bills to the other chamber and to the Governor’s desk.

On Monday, the House Health and House Human Services Committee will hold a joint public hearing on the closure of the White Haven and Polk State Centers. Also, the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee will hold a public hearing on industrial hemp. An informational meeting will be held by the House Insurance Committee on: H.B. 1439 (Kaufer, R-Luzerne), which would require health plans to notify subscribers of addiction treatment coverage available to them and how to access it; and H.B. 1696 (Murt, R-Montgomery), which would require insurance carriers that cover behavioral health to submit information to ensure compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.

Tuesday, the House Labor and Industry Committee will vote on H.B. 1234 (Cox, R-Berks), which would provide workers’ compensation coverage for latent occupational diseases. The House Health Committee will consider three noteworthy pieces of legislation:

  • H.B. 410 (Oberlander, R-Clarion), which would allow approved anti-obesity drugs to be considered a compensable service under Medicaid;
  • H.R. 507 (Hahn, R-Northampton), which directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to conduct a study and issue a report analyzing the current health and human services hotlines and their cost; and
  • S.B. 572 (Aument, R-Lancaster), which would require insurance companies to provide coverage for direct treatment patient costs received during a cancer clinical trial.

The House Judiciary Committee will also consider three bills of note:

  • H.B. 137 (Quinn, R-Delaware), which would require overdose victims to be taken to and receive evaluation by a certified recovery specialist;
  • H.B. 616 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would place carfentanil on the list of Schedule II controlled substances; and
  • H.B. 1879 (Gillespie, R-York), which would add healthcare practitioners to a protected class in the event of an assault and raise the penalty for assault on a healthcare practitioner.

In addition, the following committees will meet on Tuesday to hear testimony on different subjects:

  • The Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee will hold an informational meeting on the economic development opportunities of the data center industry;
  • The Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing on charter school entities; and
  • The Senate Republican Policy Committee will hold a workshop discussion on renewable energy.

Wednesday’s committee schedule is light on voting, as the House Finance Committee will hold an informational meeting on H.B. 285 (Metcalfe, R-Butler), which would permit the deferral of taxation on a lump sum distribution from the Employee Stock Ownership Plan of a company. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on the Medical Assistance Statewide Preferred Drug List. Lastly, the Higher Education Funding Commission will meet to consider the Department of Education’s overview of higher education and review of outcomes-based funding.

See here for a full list of committee meetings:

In Other News

  • The Department of Labor and Industry submitted the final regulation that would expand eligibility for overtime to 143,000 people and strengthen overtime protections for 251,000 more.
  • The Pennsylvania Department of State (DOS) will conduct an election security pilot after the November election. DOS also announced a new online guide to help workers applying for professional licenses.
  • The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education approved a new sustainability policy aimed at increasing collaboration, transparency and cost-efficiencies among its 14 universities.

Facebook rolled out a new authorization process for entities running ads about social issues, elections or politics.