On July 11, S.B. 1073 (Browne, R-Lehigh) became law without the Governor’s signature. S.B. 1073 is the 2016-2017 General Appropriations (GA) Bill; it reads like a ledger and simply directs funds to different agencies and offices. While technically this means that Pennsylvania had a more-or-less  on-time budget this year, legislation to raise revenue to fund the GA bill and to direct how the funds are to be spent lagged behind the GA bill by about a week.

While the GA bill distributes funds to different branches of government and state agencies, the “code bills” provide directives on how the money is to be spent. Most years, the GA bill is accompanied by bills to amend the Human Services Code, the Public School Code and the Fiscal Code. Some years, though not as often, bills amending the Tax Reform Code are necessary to raise revenue to fund the budget.

This year’s Fiscal Code bill, H.B. 1605 (James, R-Butler), passed the Senate today by a vote of 45-5 and the House by a vote of 124-66. The legislation is more-or-less an instruction manual for the entire budget, directing and restricting the use of funds appropriated in the GA bill.

The bill:

  • Raises the presumptive minimum cost for cigarette retailers from 6 t to 7 percent;
  • Strengthens record keeping requirements for cigarette dealers, requiring cigarette licensees to make full payment within 14 days of delivery and requiring s a citation before prosecution for selling cigarettes to a minor during a compliance check;
  • Moves the Cancer Control, Prevention and Research Act to a new article in the Fiscal Code and extends the sunset until June 30, 2026;
  • Makes clarifications to the unclaimed property provisions of the Fiscal Code and allows unclaimed U.S. savings bonds to be treated as unclaimed property by the State Treasury;
  • Extends eligibility for funding for capital projects that are more than 10 years old if an application was received by the Office of the Budget between January 9, 2015 and May 18, 2015;
  • Transfers $20 million from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to the Marcellus Legacy Fund for distribution to the Environmental Stewardship Fund and transfers $5 million for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund;
  • Allows drillers to penetrate the Onondaga Horizon in order to conduct operations as long as oil and gas are not produced from the Onondaga Horizon;
  • Provides for distribution of funding for the Heritage Area Program;
  • Requires that the Commonwealth Financing Authority transfer $50 million from the First Industries Program and $25 million from the Building Pennsylvania Trust Account to the Business in Our Sites Program;
  • Provides for the operation of “transportation network companies” ;
  • Suspends the annual transfer to the Rainy Day Fund for the 2016-2017 fiscal year;
  • Provides for investments made by the State Workers Insurance Fund;
  • Distributes money in the Tobacco Settlement Fund in the same proportions as distributed in the 2015-2016 Fiscal Year;
  • Requires the Department of Human Services to issue a report on expenses related to uncompensated care;
  • Establishes a formula for weekly transfers to the Race Horse Development Restricted Receipts Account; and
  • Allows the State Treasurer to make debt service payments on school districts’ behalf during a budget impasse as long as there is a signed agreement in place.

The bill also provides for particular directives on line items for the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year. New Article XVII-B speaks to 2016-2017 Budget Implementation, and of note:

  • From funds appropriated to the Department of Agriculture for Agricultural Research, at least $800,000 is to be used for an animal diagnostic laboratory affiliated with a university in a city of the first class to address avian flu and animal disease outbreaks;
  • From funds appropriated to the Department of Community and Economic Development, $250,000 is to be used to create an institute in a city of the second class to research and develop healthy building products, and $3.964 million shall be used to fund the Tourism Office;
  • The Department of Corrections is to use at least $1.5 million for a nonnarcotic medication assisted substance abuse treatment grant pilot program;
  • Funds from the Department of Health are earmarked for services related to Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome, newborn screenings, cystic fibrosis, lupus programs and specific biotechnology research projects;
  • The medical assistance capitation payment includes an increase in the reimbursement rate for pediatric shift nursing services provided in a home care setting and also includes no less than $5 million for heroin and opioid treatment services;
  • The Department of Labor and Industry may use vocational rehabilitation funds to for the Work Experience for High School Students with Disabilities Act; and
  • The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board may issue the necessary permits for the Democratic National Convention.

The bill can be read in its entirety here.