June 11, 2015

Weekly Wrap:

Despite it being budget season, there was very little budget talk and even less budget action this week in the General Assembly. However, there was some activity on other fronts in our capitol city over the last few days.

On Monday, the House Children and Youth Committee sent H.B. 1276 (Watson, R-Bucks) to the House floor for a vote. The bill would remedy some of the issues arising as county and state agencies implement last year’s amendments to the Child Protective Services Law. The bill was amended on the House floor and is now on second consideration; expect debate to continue on this bill and possible amendments next week. Also on Monday, the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee also held a joint hearing with the Senate Transportation Committee on the safe transportation of crude oil within the Commonwealth.

There were also some fireworks in the Senate on Monday: after last week’s heated confirmation hearing, Gov. Wolf attempted to recall the nomination of Col. Marcus Brown as commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. The recall wasn’t honored, and the Senate ultimately voted against confirming Brown by a vote of 26-22. Brown has been surrounded in controversy since his nomination earlier this year. Read more here: http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2015/06/marcus_brown_confirmation_tom.html#incart_2box_opinion

Finally on Monday, Rep. Michelle Brownlee pleaded guilty to one count of conflict of interest and resigned from the House of Representatives. Brownlee is one of four current and former legislators embroiled in a somewhat controversial sting case. For more, check out: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20150609_Fourth_defendant_in_sting_case_pleads_guilty.html

Tuesday turned out to be an easier day for Gov. Wolf’s remaining nominees: Dr. Rachel Levine and Eileen McNulty were confirmed as Physician General and Secretary of Revenue, respectively. With the exception of Brown, the entire Wolf cabinet is now fully confirmed. Also on Tuesday, the Senate welcomed a new member, as John Sabatina moved from the House of Representatives to the Senate. Sabatina replaces now Lt. Gov. Mike Stack to represent the 5th Senatorial District. (Sabatina’s move across the hall created a vacancy in his chairmanship of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee; Rep. Mike Carroll (D-Luzerne) will how hold that post.)

Floor action was heavy on Tuesday, too. The Senate sent S.B. 329 (Ward, R-Westmoreland) to the House for consideration; the bill would enact former Gov. Tom Corbett’s “Ready to Succeed” Scholarship program. The Senate also sent S.B. 396 (Vance, R-Cumberland) to the House, which would extend the sunset date for the Health Care Cost Containment Council. Across the way, the House passed H.B. 854 (DeLuca, D-Allegheny), which would require that pharmacy technicians register with the State Board of Pharmacy, and H.B. 1099 (Maher, R-Allegheny), which would require independent counsel for the Environmental Quality Board.

On Wednesday, the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee held a hearing on gaming issues; among those discussed were allowing slot machines to operate at off-track-betting locations and online gaming. Wednesday brought bad news for the Wolf Administration, when the Commonwealth Court issued its ruling that the governor had exceeded his constitutional authority by removing Eric Arneson as the Executive Director of the Office of Open Records. By Thursday, Wolf had appealed. Read the decision here: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015061053.PDF

Finally, on Wednesday the PUC released details on how the current gas drilling impact fee was distributed last year. Whether or not to impose a tax on the extraction of natural gas (and at what rate) is bound to be a big part of this year’s budget discussions. Read more here: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2015/2015061074.HTM

And while there was no session on Thursday, the House and Senate both held a number of public hearings. Among them, the House Consumer Affairs Committee held a public hearing on H.B.1065 (Killion, R-Delaware), which would provide for oversight of transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft; the House Appropriations Committee held a public meeting on issues surrounding state critical access hospital funding; and the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy held a hearing on coal issues.

A Look Ahead:

Though we’re going to press a day early, there are already a number of committee meetings and hearings scheduled for next week. On Monday, the House Health Committee will hold a public hearing on H.B. 682 (Murt, R-Montgomery), which would make additional amendments to PA’s smoking ban, the Clean Indoor Air Act.

On Tuesday, the House Finance Committee will meet to consider H.B.1319 (Marshall, R-Beaver), which would provide for the establishment of tax free savings accounts (similar to 529 accounts for higher education) for individuals with disabilities. Also on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss S.B. 518 (Pileggi, R-Delaware), which would allow fiduciaries and executors of estates to have access to the decedents “digital assets,” like photos, e-books, music and videos that are stored on a computer.

So far on Wednesday, the Senate Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee will hold another public hearing on gaming issues.

For a full list of committee meetings, go to www.legis.state.pa.us

Also, the House and Senate have both scheduled four session days for next week. It’s too soon to say what that means for budget negotiations, but you can see what else is up for consideration on the floor here:

The House Calendar: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/SC/HC/0/RC/CAL.HTM (watch Twitter for The Week Ahead)

The Senate Calendar: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/SC/SC/0/RC/CAL.HTM

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