Weekly Wrap:

With only the Senate in town this week, it was relatively quiet on the legislative front. On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out S.B. 21 (Mensch, R-Berks). Known as the “Employment First Act,” the legislation would promote the hiring of people with disabilities at competitive wages throughout the Commonwealth. The Committee also reported out H.B. 653 (Masser, R-Columbia), which would provide for an expedited foreclosure process for blighted properties. In addition, S.B. 234 (Blake, D-Lackawanna), which would establish a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program allowing commercial property owners to obtain low-cost, long-term financing for energy efficiency projects and H.B. 1653 (Quigley, R-Montgomery), providing greater access to PHEAA grants for students enrolled in distance education programs, were reported out of committee and passed by the full Senate later in the week.

Also on Monday, the Senate State Government Committee reported out S.B. 1034 (Scarnati, R-Cameron), which would repeal the text description for Pennsylvania’s congressional maps, which were struck down by the courts last week. The bill is moving forward as a placeholder for a new congressional redistricting plan, which must be submitted to the Governor by February 9, 2018 and approved by the Legislature before February 15, 2018.

The committees were a little busier on Tuesday, as the House Banking and Insurance Committee met to consider S.B. 780 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would allow healthcare practitioners to practice telemedicine in Pennsylvania. The Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee held a public hearing on S.B. 721 (Reschenthaler, R-Allegheny), which would impose a hotel tax or fee on accommodations booked through online travel companies, the proceeds of which would be used to boost tourism promotion efforts.

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out S.R. 104 (Bartolotta, R-Beaver), urging Governor Wolf to end his moratorium on gas drilling on state forest land; and the Senate Local Government committee reported out S.B. 114 (Eichelberger, R-Blair), which would allow a sewer authority to obtain a court order allowing it to terminate service to commercial customers who are at least six months delinquent, and H.B. 104 (Godshall, R-Montgomery), which would require a public hearing before a municipal authority sells its water or sewer infrastructure assets. Finally, the Senate State Government Committee held a public hearing to take testimony on voting technology in Pennsylvania, in response to a report issued by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.

Wednesday wasn’t quite as jam-packed as the Senate Finance Committee met to consider bills, including H.B. 291 (Metzgar, R-Bedford), which would eliminate the inheritance tax for persons under age 21.

This week brought the confirmation of a new cabinet secretary, though in a most unusual way. Jerry Oleksiak became top-dog at the Department of Labor and Industry without Senate approval. Oleksiak had been up for consideration for that post since August and the Senate did not act, nor did Gov. Wolf withdraw his nomination within the 25 legislative days allotted for action executive nominations. With no action taken one way or the other, Oleksiak was allowed to become Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry automatically.

Finally, some news from the Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) this week. Act 48 of 2017 requires that the Secretary of the Budget and IFO initiate a program of performance-based budget reviews as part of the annual budget preparation and program evaluation processes beginning in fiscal year 2018-19. Each agency and tax credit will be reviewed at least once every five years. This year (year 1 on the schedule), the Department of Corrections , the Board of Probation and Parole, the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the Juvenile Court of Judges’ Commission the Department of Banking and Securities, and the Department of General Services will all be under review. Also under the fiscal microscope will be the Film Production Tax Credit, the New Jobs Tax Credit and the Alternative Energy Production Tax Credit.

A Look Ahead:

Before anyone gets back to business next week, all eyes will be on Pennsylvania as the Philadelphia Eagles compete in Super Bowl LII on Sunday. Fly, Eagles, Fly!

Come Tuesday, we’ll have much less national attention, but a big day statewide, as Gov. Wolf delivers his budget address for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. It’s likely Wolf will keep with the themes of his last three addresses: Jobs that Pay, Schools that Teach and Government that Works. However, details of his proposal have not yet been revealed. We’ll have plenty of budget day updates available on this blog and on our Twitter feed.

Beyond the budget, there are a few notable committee meetings scheduled for next week. On Monday, the House Insurance Committee will hold a voting meeting to consider H.B. 1851 (Pickett, R-Bradford), which would require the Department of Insurance to formularize their exam process with best practices, and S.B. 877 (White, R-Indiana) and S.B. 878 (White, R-Indiana), both of which would allow producers and insurers to spend as much as $100 on an insured or prospective insured in marketing insurance to that client or prospective client.

On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee will meet to consider H.B. 2017 (Ryan, R-Lebanon), which would amend the Tax Reform Code to address changes to the calculation of bonus depreciation under the new federal tax law and a bulletin issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. The House Urban Affairs Committee will consider: H.B. 1875 (Rothman, R-Cumberland), which would revise eviction proceedings between a landlord and tenant; H.B. 1900 (Taylor, R-Philadelphia), which would enhance the ability of the Philadelphia Land Bank to acquire property, and H.B. 2010 (O’Brien, D-Philadelphia), which would provide a uniform definition for the term “blight.”

The House State Government Committee will consider a package of bills proposed by the House Republicans dealing with regulatory reforms:

  • H.B. 209 (Hill, R-York) – would establish an Independent Officer of the Repealer
  • H.B. 1237 (Keefer, R-York) – would establish an enhanced review process for major regulations that impose a substantial cost burden on the Commonwealth
  • H.B. 1792 (Benninghoff, R-Centre) – would give the General Assembly the ability to initiate the repeal of any regulation in effect by a concurrent resolution.
  • H.B. 1959 (Rothman, R-Cumberland) – would require increased transparency of the permitting process
  • H.B. 1960 (Ellis, R-Butler) – would require each agency designate an employee as the agency’s regulatory compliance officer

Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing on investment and expenditures from special funds by the Department of Treasury. Also, the House Transportation Committee will consider H.B. 1699 (Marshall, R-Beaver), which would make 102-inch-wide trailers the new standard on all Pennsylvania highways.

In Other News:

  • Rep. Mark Mustio (R-Allegheny), Chairman of the House Professional Licensure Committee, and Rep. Flo Fabrizio (D-Erie), Minority Chairman of the House Health Committee, announced they will not seek reelection in 2018.
  • Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati refused to turn over data, relating to the congressional maps, requested by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
  • As the Governor’s race heats up, the new batch of campaign finance reports were released.
  • The Chairman of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party resigned at the request of the Governor.
  • Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court will consider the legality of Philadelphia’s soda tax.