Weekly Wrap

With budget hearings behind us, it was back to business as usual this week in Harrisburg, with the House of Representatives returning for three days of voting session. The Senate returns next week, and then we’ve got a good stretch of session days ahead of us leading up to budget discussions later this spring.

As for this week, on Monday, the House unanimously passed H.B. 284 (Metcalfe, R-Butler), which would modernize and update the History Code, particularly related to records retention and archiving policies.

The House Education Committee unanimously reported out a slew of workforce development bills, including: H.B. 393 (Harkins, D-Erie), which would require the Department of Education, the Department of Labor & Industry , and the Department of Agriculture to maintain a comprehensive online career resource center for students; H.B. 394 (Mullery, D-Luzerne), which would require the Department of Education and the Department of Labor & Industry to maintain a clearinghouse of workforce development programs; and H.B. 396 (Roebuck, D-Philadelphia) which would add an administrator of a local Career & Technical Education Center to the local Workforce Development Board. The Committee also reported out—on a party line vote—H.B. 522 (Tobash, R-Schuylkill), which would establish a “Career and Technical Education Investment Incentive Program,” similar to the state’s EITC program.

Finally, the House Liquor Control Committee reported out H.B. 327 (Warren, R-Bucks), clarifying the procedure for a local referendum on the sale of liquor.

On Tuesday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee reported out H.B. 751 (Roae, R-Crawford), which would make water and wastewater public utilities solely responsible for funding the income taxes on taxable contributions in aid of construction and customer advances for construction. The utilities shall also record the income taxes paid in accumulated deferred income taxes for accounting and ratemaking purposes.

The House Judiciary Committee also met on Tuesday and reported out H.B. 97 (Rapp, R-Warren), which would prohibit the sale or purchase of vaping products to or by minors. The bill would also prohibit the use of vaping products on school grounds. The committee also voted out H.B. 332 (Grove, R-York), establishing a statewide commerce court.

On Wednesday, the House Finance Committee reported out H.B. 628 (Kauffer, R-Luzerne), amending the Fiscal Code to extend the investment authority of the Treasury Department though 2024, and the House Professional Licensure Committee reported out H.B 64 (Readshaw, D-Allegheny), allowing the state licensing boards under BPOA to provide for carry-over of continuing education credits.

There were also a number of public hearings this week. On Monday, both the House Consumer Affairs Committee and House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held informational meetings with PJM Interconnection; on Tuesday House Health Committee held a public hearing on barriers to employment in the health care field and the House Human Services Committee held a public hearing relating to bed registry and warm handoff for addiction treatment; on Wednesday, the House Gaming Oversight Committee held an informational meeting with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on gaming expansion.

The Week Ahead

On Monday, the House Transportation Committee will consider H.B. 30 (Petrarca, D-Westmoreland), which would increase the optional organ donation check-off contribution for vehicle registration applications and renewals.

So far it looks like Tuesday will be a busy day, with a good mix of hearings and committee meetings. The House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee will hold an informational meeting on the PACE prescription drug program; the House Commerce Committee will hold a joint informational meeting with the House Labor and Industry Committee on the Auditor General’s recent performance audit on the PA Workforce Systems; and the House Judiciary Committee will hold an informational meeting on proposed criminal justice reform initiatives.

Additionally, The House Human Services Committee will consider H.B. 316 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would establish a task force on the opioid abuse epidemic’s impact on children. And the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will consider H.B. 247 (Oberlander, R-Clarion), which would provide a process and accounting method to allow well bores to cross multiple units.

On the Senate side on Tuesday, the Senate State Government Committee will meet to consider S.B. 372 (Scavello, R-Monroe), updating and modernizing the History Code, and the Senate Education Committee will consider, among other bills, S.B. 144 (Martin, R-Lancaster), which would create a grant program to allow the state’s intermediate units to access funds to purchase telepresence equipment for homebound students.

Public hearings continue on Wednesday: the House and Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee will hold a joint public hearing on the proposed PA Farm Bill; the House Urban Affairs Committee will hold an informational meeting with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation on opportunity zones; the House Judiciary Committee will hold an informational meeting with the State Police, who will update them on their policy related to arrest and detention of foreign nationals and the House Labor and Industry Committee will hold a public hearing on H.B. 349 (Heffley, R-Carbon), which would amend the PA Construction Code Act related to the use of third party enforcement issues.

A full list of committee meetings can be found here.

Anticipated Senate floor action can be found here; and anticipated House floor action can be found here.

In Other News

  • Special elections were held in HD-114 and HD-190.
  • Seven candidates are running for two open seats on the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
  • PHMC approved the addition of 18 new historical markers in the Commonwealth this week.