The 2015-2016 session is now in officially in full swing. With the pomp and circumstance of Governor Wolf’s swearing in behind them, legislators started to get down to the nitty-gritty this week. The first order of business was committee reorganization; members were given their assignments, and committees held their inaugural meetings to adopt rules for the upcoming session. Between Wednesday and Thursday, some of the committees met to report out substantive legislation, with most of the action happening in the Senate.
For a list of House Committee membership, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/pdf/standing_ctee_hse.pdf
For a list of Senate Committee membership, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/pdf/standing_ctee_sen.pdf
On Wednesday, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee met to consider three bills. Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) reintroduced two pieces of legislation that comprise the Oil and Gas Lease Protection Package. S.B. 147 is a redo of S.B. 1236 of last session, which would allow an owner of a royalty interest to inspect gas company records to verify property payment. S.B. 148 (S.B. 1237 of last session) would prevent a gas company from retaliating against a royalty interest owner if they should question the accuracy of royalty payments.
For more about S.B. 147 see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0147
For more about S.B. 148, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0148
Lastly, the committee considered Sen. Hutchinson’s S.B. 279. The bill, introduced as S.B. 1310 last session, establishes a Pennsylvania Grade Crude Development Advisory Council that will study existing regulations and assist DEP in making revisions in order to better delineate between conventional and unconventional oil and gas production.
For more about S.B. 279, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0279
Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee met to consider a number of bills, including Sen. Greenleaf’s S.B. 180, which would update Pennsylvania’s Donate Life Act to reflect changes being made nationwide regarding standards for anatomical gifts. Greenleaf has introduced this bill in the two previous sessions.
For more about S.B. 180, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0180
Also on Thursday, the Senate Finance Committee met to consider S.B. 4, introduced by Senators Aument and Scarnati. S.B. 4 is a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the legislature to set standards for purely public charities to be exempt from taxation. Currently, determination of whether or not an entity is a purely public charity is being made by the courts using a judicially created test. This bill was passed by the General Assembly last year. If passed by both chambers this session, this constitutional amendment could be before the voters this year.
For more about S.B. 4, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0004
The Senate also published its budget hearing schedule. The budget address will be given by Governor Wolf on March 3, with hearings being held in the following weeks. We expect the House to publish its schedule in the coming weeks.
For the Senate budget hearing schedule, see:
http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015012218.PDF
Looking ahead to next week, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have scheduled three session days. The House Education Committee will meet Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. to consider a number of bills, including H.B. Bill 158, sponsored by Rep. Peifer. This bill would allow the Secretary of Education to issue emergency declarations, allowing school districts some flexibility in implementing the 180-day requirement.
For more about H.B. 158, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=158
Additionally, the House Health Committee will hold a meeting off the floor to consider H.B. 59 and H.B. 60, both introduced by the chairman of that committee, Rep. Matt Baker. (Baker introduced these bills last session as H.B. 2003 and H.B. 2471 respectively.) H.B. 59 will require that people born between 1945 and 1965 be offered Hepatitis C screening when receiving inpatient or outpatient services. H.B. 60 would provide greater access to oral anti-cancer medications.
For more on H.B. 59, see: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0059
For more on H.B. 60, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0060
For a full list of House committee meetings, see:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/CMS/index.cfm?Chamber=H
As of this writing, the Senate has not posted its meeting schedule. However, when it is ready, it will be available at: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/CMS/index.cfm?Chamber=S
It’s likely we’ll see additions to this schedule. Check back to this blog or follow us on Twitter @BuchananGov for updates.