Weekly Wrap

All was quiet on the Capitol front this week, with neither chamber in Harrisburg for any legislative activity.

The Week Ahead

Monday kicks off the first of two consecutive weeks where the House of Representatives and Senate are both in session. And the House is comin’ in hot, with a full schedule of meetings and hearings already scheduled for Monday.

The House Education Committee will consider three bills:

  • H.B. 49 (Brown, R-Monroe), which would require public schools to allow students to apply credits earned through courses in personal financial literacy to satisfy graduation credit requirements;
  • H.B. 800 (Turzai, R-Allegheny), which would increase the amount of tax credits available under the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program by $100 million, to $210 million; and
  • S.B. 115 (Killion, R-Delaware), which would require the Department of Education to develop model curriculum and guidelines for CPR instruction for public school students in grades 9-12.

The House Transportation Committee will consider H.B. 317 (Rothman, R-Cumberland), which would provide restrictions on the use of data collected from automated license plate reader systems and establish a grant program to assist municipalities in obtaining the system. Sticking with transportation, the House Local Government Committee will consider H.B. 1074 (Turzai, R-Allegheny), which would expand the Allegheny County Airport Authority board from nine to 13 members: one appointed by the Governor, four appointed by the General Assembly, and eight appointed by the County Executive. Finally, the House Health Committee will consider H.B. 1058 (Rapp, R-Warren), which would require information be given to a woman on the option of perinatal hospice care after her unborn child is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition.

Both chambers already have public hearings scheduled:

  • The House Consumer Affairs Committee will hold their third public hearing on H.B. 11 (Mehaffie, R-Dauphin), which would update the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act by establishing nuclear energy as a Tier III alternative energy source;
  • The House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold a public hearing on Pennsylvania’s nuclear waste containment;
  • The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold a joint public hearing with the Senate Aging and Youth Committee on the Inspector General’s report on the Department of Aging’s county based system of monitoring elder abuse;
  • The House Labor and Industry Committee will hold a public hearing on construction industry employee misclassification;
  • The Senate Law and Justice Committee will hold a public hearing on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s annual report; and
  • The House and Senate Democratic Policy Committees will hold a joint public hearing on adult cannabis use.

Public hearings and informational hearings will continue into Tuesday, when:

  • The House State Government Committee will hold an informational meeting on H.B. 163 (Everett, R-Lycoming), which would modernize the Separations Act to streamline projects for public buildings;
  • The Senate State Government Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss election law legislation; and
  • The House Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on residential choices for people with a disability.

Also on Tuesday, two committees will meet to consider the re-nominations of four cabinet officials:

  • The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold a public hearing to consider the nominations of Cindy Dunn as Secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Patrick McDonnell as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection;
  • The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing to consider the nominations of Jennifer Smith as Secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs and Rachel Levine as Physician General and Secretary of the Department of Health; and
  • The Senate Labor and Industry Committee will consider the nomination of Gerard Oleksiak as Secretary of the Department of Labor and Industry.

Finishing up the session week, on Wednesday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold an informational meeting on the permit review process for Erosion and Sediment Control permits. In addition, the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee will consider H.B. 787 (Heffley, R-Carbon), which would require online home sharing and short-term rental companies doing business in Pennsylvania to register with the state and share information with taxing authorities. Finally, the House Finance Committee will consider H.B. 17 (Ryan, R-Lebanon), which would establish a 10-year time period for the Department of Revenue to collect assessed personal income tax.

In Other News

  • Pennsylvania will have the nation’s first registered apprenticeship for public school teachers.
  • Rep. Lori Mizgorski (R-Allegheny) was appointed by Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) to serve on the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County.
  • With Act 95 of 2018 now in effect, non-driving infractions will no longer lead to driver’s license suspensions.
  • The Office of Attorney General recovered more than $1 billion in revenue for the Commonwealth in 2018.