Weekly Wrap

The House’s session week began on Tuesday, with the House Health Committee reporting out the following bills:

  • S.B. 273 (Ward, R-Blair), which would remove the cap on funds obtained by federally qualified health centers;
  • H.B. 2202 (Klunk, R-York), which would allow individuals with disabilities to increase earnings under a new category of the Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities;
  • H.B. 2476 (Grove, R-York), which would provide financial incentives to hospitals and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations for reducing potentially avoidable events; and
  • H.B. 2857 (Keefer, R-York), which would create an annual enrollment period for recipients to choose their Medicaid plan.

The House Professional Licensure Committee reported out H.B. 100 (Topper, R-Bedford). The bill would establish a pilot program to allow eligible certified registered nurse practitioners to receive an additional certification to practice as an independent practitioner in a health professional shortage area. Also, the House Consumer Affairs Committee reported out S.B. 835 (Langerholc, R-Cambria), which would establish the Unserved High-Speed Broadband Funding Pilot Program.

On the House floor, S.B. 1216 (Langerholc, R-Cambria) unanimously passed and heads back to the Senate for a concurrence vote. The bill would make several changes to the Public School Code including assessments, graduation requirements, pupil transportation, and teacher certification.

The following bills passed finally and will go to the Senate for consideration:

  • H.B. 862 (Barrar, R-Delaware), which would authorize the Commonwealth to enter into the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact;
  • H.B. 2584 (Topper, R-Bedford), which would require licensed physicians who wish to participate in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to submit to a national criminal background investigation; and
  • H.B. 2561 (Culver, R-Northumberland), which would update the definition of “practice of optometry” and revise the therapeutic drug approval process under the Optometric Practice and Licensure Act.

Wednesday started with a House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee informational meeting on spill reporting requirements under the Clean Streams Law. The committee also held a voting meeting and reported out: H.B. 707 (Zimmerman, R-Lancaster), which would exclude religious institutions from the definition of “public water system” under the Safe Drinking Water Act; and H.B. 2197 (Dush, R-Jefferson), which would place photovoltaic modules of solar panels on the list of items covered under the Controlled Device Recycling Act.

The House State Government Committee reported out three bills and one resolution:

  • S.B. 1241 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would require the Department of General Services to conduct an annual survey of state facility usage;
  • H.B. 2546 (Grove, R-York), which would establish the COVID-19 Good Samaritan Emergency Liability Waiver for certain industries and equipment uses;
  • H.B. 2352 (Grove, R-York), which would make the state False Claims Act federally compliant and provide for COVID-19-related liability protection; and
  • H.R. 1032 (Everett, R-Lycoming), would establish the Select Committee on Election Integrity to investigate, review, and make recommendations concerning the regulation and conduct of the 2020 general election.

Three health care-related bills passed on the House floor and will now be considered by the Senate:

  • H.B. 2103 (Jozwiak, R-Berks), which would provide an entity performing a diagnostic imaging service to give written notice to a patient when there was a review of the test performed and results were sent to a health care practitioner;
  • H.B. 2331 (Galloway, D-Bucks), which would establish a mental health care services clearinghouse; and
  • H.B. 2792 (Thomas, R-Bucks), which would require the state to establish a registry of long-term care facility medical directors.

Thursday was supposed to be another voting session day for the House. However, session was cancelled out of an abundance of caution due a member testing positive for COVID-19. The House stands adjourned until Monday, October 19.

Also on Thursday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reinstated Governor Wolf’s restrictions on the size of gatherings (25 people for indoor and 250 people for outdoor). Last month, a U.S. District Judge ruled that certain provisions of the Governor’s COVID-19 mitigation orders, including crowd sizes, were unconstitutional. The Third Circuit granted the Administration’s motion after the U.S. District Court denied a stay to strike down the restrictions while the appeals process takes place.

The Week Ahead

The Senate is in session next week for their second to last scheduled session week for 2020.

Monday, the Senate Education Committee will hold a public hearing on S.B. 1230 (Ward, R-Blair). The bill would establish Back on Track Education Scholarship Accounts for students whose education was disrupted by the pandemic.

Tuesday, the Senate Community, Economic, and Recreational Development Committee will hold a public hearing on S.B. 1256 (Corman, R-Centre). The bill would provide for the regulation of games of skills.

The Senate Finance Committee will consider four bills of note:

  • S.B. 463 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would extend the sales and use tax exemption of traffic signals to include all component parts of a traffic signal, foundation, pole and mast arms;
  • S.B. 628 (Scavello, R-Monroe), which would create the Airport Land Development Zone program to incentivize development on vacant land and buildings owned by airports and leased to private businesses;
  • S.B. 1326 (Blake, R-Lackawanna), which would provide fraud protections for the Research & Development and Keystone Innovation Zone tax credits; and
  • H.B. 2497 (Dunbar, R-Westmoreland), which would provide that a forgiveness of indebtedness granted under the federal CARES Act shall not be considered taxable income for state personal income tax purposes.

For a full list of committee meetings:

House

Senate

In Other News

  • Governor Wolf unveiled a health reform plan focusing on both physical and behavioral health and promoting affordability, accessibility and value in health care.
  • The Wolf Administration launched the nation’s first innovative, evidence-based substance use disorder stigma reduction campaign.
  • The Department of Revenue released August 2020 collections.
  • PennDOT extended expiration dates on commercial driver licenses, commercial learner’s permits, and hazardous materials endorsements.
  • The Department of State outlined steps for Pennsylvanians to vote by mail for the November 3 general election.