April 8, 2016

Weekly Wrap:

The capitol was a hive of activity this week, with both House of Representatives and the Senate in session for the start of a two-week stretch before the primary election. On Monday, the House Health Committee reported out two bills: H.B. 479 (Fabrizio, D-Erie), which would allow registered nurses to delegate certain tasks in order to better manage their work loads, and H.B. 1948 (Rapp, R-Crawford), which would amend the Abortion Control Act to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks (as opposed to 24 under current law) and prohibit “dismemberment abortions.” Needless to say, the latter was the subject of great debate in both the committee and on the House floor, where it received second consideration on Wednesday. Also on Monday, the Senate approved S.R. 267 (Schwank, D-Berks) which would create an advisory task force to find ways to address drug addiction and treatment issues.

On Tuesday, the Senate Consumer Affairs and Professional Licensure Committee reported out H.B. 1436 (Godshall, R-Montgomery), which would provide a new methodology for computation of a public utility’s federal tax expenses. Meanwhile, another bill sponsored by Rep. Godshall was finally passed in the Senate and sent to Gov. Wolf for his signature: H.B. 1326, which would establish a process to determine the fair market value of a water or wastewater company acquired by a water or wastewater public utility for ratemaking purposes. The Governor has until April 15 to act on the measure.

Also on Tuesday, the House Education and the House Finance Committees held a joint hearing on the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs. The programs, which have provided over half a million dollars in scholarships to Pennsylvania students, had been in a state of flux due to the budget impasse and the aim of the hearing, according to House Education Committee Chairman Stan Saylor (R-York), was to make sure going forward programs operate in an “ideal and predictable fashion.” The Senate Judiciary Committee met on Tuesday as well, and among the bills considered was S.B. 1077 (Vogel, R-Beaver), which would allow school districts to notify parents about audio recordings on school buses by means other than U.S. Mail, as required under current law. The information could be made available in handbooks, publications or via e-mail under Vogel’s legislation.

Speaking of schools, a turf war of sorts transpired around school funding issues this week. On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee met to consider S.B. 910 (Smucker, R-Lancaster), which, as amended, would implement the distribution formula developed by the Basic Education Funding Commission. The very same day, however, Gov. Wolf announced the distribution formula the administration will use to allocate basic education funding, since no funding formula has been enacted for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. The latest iteration of the formula adopted by the General Assembly was contained in H.B. 1327 (Peifer, R-Pike), which Wolf vetoed in late March. Which brings us to a final point on Tuesday’s legislative activities: the House amended and passed H.B. 1589 (Causer, R-Cameron), a comprehensive Fiscal Code bill for the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year, which will now be sent to the Senate for consideration.

Rounding out the week, the House Urban Affairs Committee held a joint hearing with the House Commerce Committee on Community Revitalization Improvement Zones legislation (known to most as CRIZ), and the Senate Democratic Policy Committee made a road trip to Pittsburgh, where it held a hearing on opioid addiction in the Commonwealth.

On the administrative side of things, the PUC held its regularly scheduled meeting on Thursday, with a lot of the focus on safe digging. The Commission, recognizing that April is Safe Digging Month, noted the importance of calling the PA One Call System—8-1-1—prior to beginning any excavation projects. The Commission also urged action on legislation that would move oversight and enforcement for PA One Call from the Department of Labor and Industry to the Commission.

Read more here: http://www.puc.pa.gov/about_puc/press_releases.aspx?ShowPR=3685

Finally, on Thursday, Gov. Wolf signed two Executive Orders that expand protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender expression or identity. The first Executive Order ensures that a state agency does not discriminate against an employee or applicant for employment based on any of the above; the second Executive Order ensures that state contractors use nondiscriminatory business practices. The Office of Administration will oversee the implementation of the new equal employment policies and evaluate the agency’s compliance with the Executive Orders.

Read Executive Order 2016-04 – Equal Employment Opportunity: https://www.governor.pa.gov/executive_orders/executive-order-2016-04-equal-employment-opportunity/

Read Executive Order 2016-05 – Contract Compliance: https://www.governor.pa.gov/executive_orders/executive-order-2016-05-contract-compliance/

According to Gov. Wolf, the Executive Orders are necessary given that two anti-discrimination bills- H.B. 1510 (Frankel, D-Allegheny) and S.B. 974 (Browne, R-Lehigh)- have been parked in the House State Government Committee and Senate State Government Committee respectively since September of 2015.

Read more: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016040743.HTM

A Look Ahead:

Next week looks like another busy one. On Monday, the House Democratic Policy Committee will hold a hearing on clean energy jobs, and the Senate Democratic and Republican Policy Committees will hold a rare joint public hearing on economic development and jobs in the Commonwealth. Also on Monday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee will meet to vote on bills: among those on the agenda is S.B. 984 (Bartolotta, R-Beaver), which would provide oversight for “transportation network companies.” Additionally, the House Gaming Oversight Committee will hold a public hearing on H.B.469 (Mustio, R-Allegheny), which would allow airport systems to conduct 50/50 raffles.

To read S.B. 984, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0984

To read H.B. 469, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0469

Tuesday, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will meet to discuss Chapter 78/78a regulations, which provide for oversight of conventional and non-conventional gas wells in the Commonwealth.

For an overview, go to: http://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/Energy/OilandGasPrograms/OilandGasMgmt/Public-Resources/Pages/Oil-and-Gas-Surface-Regulations.aspx

The House Gaming Oversight Committee will meet on Wednesday to consider H.B. 1925 (Santora, R-Delaware), which would promote the use of the Local Law Enforcement Grant program(administered by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board), and the House Labor and Industry Committee will meet to consider H.B. 1543 (Maloney, R-Berks), which provides for use and review of the Pennsylvania Construction Code. Finally, the House Urban Affairs Committee will meet to consider two bills amending the Landlord Tenant Act, H.B. 1051 (Dean, D-Montgomery) and H.B. 975 (Dean, D-Montgomery), both of which expand the circumstances for early termination of leases.

To read H.B. 1925, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1925

To read H.B. 1543, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1543

To read H.B. 1051, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=1051

To read H.B. 975, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2015&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0975

For a full list of committee meetings, go to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/session.cfm

For possible House floor action, check out The Week Ahead: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2016/2016040891.PDF

And for possible Senate floor action, find the Senate Calendar here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/SessionCalendars/index.cfm?Chamber=S

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