June 24, 2022

Weekly Wrap

The House of Representatives and Senate spent the week maneuvering bills in preparation of next Thursday’s June 30 budget deadline. Although five session days were originally scheduled, members were only in session for three days.

On Monday, the House Education Committee reported out H.B. 2619 (Topper, R-Bedford), which would establish a performance-based funding incentive for state-related universities.

The House Rules Committee reported out two bills:

  • H.B. 629 (Toohil, R-Luzerne), which would provide for a uniform statewide time period for the distribution of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and
  • H.B. 2665 (Masser, R-Northumberland), which would increase the cap on realty transfer tax revenues deposited into the Pennsylvania Housing and Rehabilitation Enhancement fund to provide additional funding for affordable housing resources.

The Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee reported out two bills: S.B. 1135 (Saval, D-Philadelphia), which would establish the Whole Home Repairs Fund to provide a one-stop shop for home repairs; and S.B. 1281 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would allocate $150 million in American Rescue Plan funds to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to provide gap funding to complete projects which have experienced cost increases or a loss in equity investment.

Additionally, the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee reported out H.B. 2157 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would update provisions of the fireworks law pertaining to use, operation, and setback requirements.

The House passed the following bills that will now be considered by the Senate:

  • H.B. 1393 (Struzzi, R-Indiana), which would legalize fentanyl test strips for personal use;
  • H.B. 2398 (Oberlander, R-Clarion), which would provide for the deployment of highly automated vehicles;
  • H.B. 2527 (Quinn, R-Delaware), which would extend Good Samaritan protections for the use of new opioid overdose reversal drugs;
  • H.B. 2528 (Struzzi, R-Indiana), which would require the Department of Environmental Protection to prioritize eligible Pennsylvania businesses for well plugging jobs; and
  • H.B. 2644 (Causer, R-McKean), which would allocate federal funding to support orphaned oil and gas well plugging and update bond amounts.

Tuesday, the nomination of Sean Logan to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was reported with a favorable recommendation from the Senate Transportation Committee. Also, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing on the state’s contract with Credentia for providing testing for certified nurse aides.

The House Judiciary Committee reported out H.B. 2660 (Kauffman, R-Franklin), which would amend the state Constitution to allow the General Assembly to establish venue in civil cases.

Three pieces of legislation were reported from the House Human Services Committee:

  • H.B. 107 (Sankey-Clearfield), which would require Medicaid Managed Care Organizations to enter into an agreement to allow the Department of Human Services to recoup any Medicaid funds which were spent on provider preventable conditions;
  • H.B. 109 (Thomas, R-Bucks), which would increase the penalties for making a false claim under the Medicaid program; and
  • H.R. 212 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would establish a legislative task force on intellectual disabilities and direct the Joint State Government Commission to study the impact of current services to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Same goes for the Senate Education Committee, as they reported out:

  • H.B. 2169 (Owlett, R-Tioga), which would establish a scholarship program for students in the bottom 15 percent of performance metrics;
  • S.B. 766 (Bartolotta, R-Washington), which would establish an adult education and workforce recovery fund grant program; and
  • S.B. 1243 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon), which would require the completion of an economics and personal finance course as a high school graduation requirement.

The Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee reported out S.B. 1152 (Mastriano, R-Adams), which would ensure that drug overdose incidents are reported into a mapping system within 24 hours of encounter by first responders.

The House finally passed: H.B. 2010 (Ryan, R-Lebanon), which would provide training for public pension fund and state fund fiduciaries; and H.B. 2104 (Rapp, R-Warren), which would provide for the decommissioning of alternative energy facilities. Both bills will now be considered by the Senate.

The Senate concurred in House amendments to S.B. 709 (Tomlinson, R-Bucks), which would provide for cytomegalovirus (CMV) screening for newborns. The bill now sits on the Governor’s desk. They also passed S.B. 1124 (Argall, R-Schuylkill), which would require the Department of Human Services to check death certificates at the Bureau of Vital Statistics against recipients of medical assistance and benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Furthermore, S.R. 288 (Ward, R-Blair) was adopted. The resolution would direct the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study of long-term care facilities’ impact relating to Medicaid funds.

Before heading home for the week, on Wednesday, the House Commerce Committee reported out:

  • H.B. 2667 (Mercuri, R-Allegheny), which would provide for the regulation of remote mortgage brokers;
  • S.B. 635 (Yudichak, I-Luzerne), which would expand eligible projects under the property assessed clean energy program; and
  • S.B. 1167 (DiSanto, R-Dauphin), which would authorize financial institutions and insurers to provide services to legitimate cannabis-related businesses and prohibits adverse state regulatory or legal actions.

The House State Government Committee reported out: H.B. 2481 (Grove, R-York), which would ensure the state does not contract or invest with businesses who do commerce with countries on the United States State Sponsors of Terrorism or Economic Sanctions Programs lists; and S.B. 428 (Gordner, R-Columbia), which would move the Presidential primary election from the fourth Tuesday of April to the third Tuesday of March.

Two bills of note were reported from the House Transportation Committee: H.B. 2632 (Delozier, R-Cumberland), which would provide for private vendor specialty license plates; and S.B. 1094 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon), which would make omnibus amendments to the Vehicle Code pertaining to commercial vehicles.

The House Rules Committee reported out H.B. 2679 (Hickernell, R-Lancaster), which would make permanent certain regulatory waivers related to the administration of COVID-19 and flu immunizations. A similar bill, S.B. 511 (Ward, R-Blair), passed out of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. The bill would allow pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians to continue administering influenza and COVID-19 immunizations.

In the upper chamber, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported out: H.B. 331 (Brown, R-Monroe), which would permit financial institutions to conduct savings promotion programs; and H.B. 2419 (Pickett, R-Bradford), which would address telehealth psychiatric and advanced practice professionals’ supervision requirements in outpatient psychiatric clinics.

Then the Senate Finance Committee reported out: H.B. 385 (Dunbar, R-Westmoreland), which would allow for the tax deferral of like-kind exchanges; and S.B. 1205 (Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would increase the amount available under the Waterfront Development Tax Credit Program.

Three bills were reported from the Senate Health and Human Services Committee:

  • H.B. 1561 (Farry, R-Bucks), which would clarify confidentiality practices in the Mental Health Procedures Act;
  • H.B. 1563 (Cutler, R-Lancaster), which would modernize confidentiality provisions in the Drug and Alcohol Abuse Control Act; and
  • H.B. 2604 (Twardzik, R-Schuylkill), which would amend the requirement for photo I.D. badges in health care facilities to allow health systems and registered names with the Department of State to be used on the badges.

On House floor, there were two bills of note that passed finally and will make their way to the Senate for consideration: H.B. 2648 (Lawrence, R-Chester), which would establish the position of Special State Prosecutor under the Office of Inspector General to investigate unemployment compensation fraud; and H.B. 2649 (Grove, R-York), which would add two appoints from the two majority leaders to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

The Senate adopted S.R. 285 (Gordner, R-Columbia), which directs the Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study on public and private recycling infrastructure and operations. They also finally passed the following bills that will be considered by the House next:

  • H.B. 723 (Mizgorski, R-Allegheny), which would amend the Workforce Development Act to bring it into compliance with federal requirements;
  • S.B. 1093 (Gebhard, R-Lebanon), which would allow energy efficient lighting to be installed on outdoor advertising devices; and
  • S.B. 1188 (Brooks, R-Mercer), which would establish the Lyme Disease and Related Tick-Borne Illness Diagnosis and Treatment Act.

The Week Ahead

Currently, the committee meeting schedule is bare. However, by the time members get to Harrisburg on Monday, expect a jammed packed agenda across committee sin both chambers.

Monday, the House Judiciary Committee will consider H.B. 1762 (Flood, R-Northampton), which would allow an employer to pay employees exclusively by electronic means through the use of direct deposit or a payroll card.

On Tuesday, the House Transportation Committee will consider S.B. 1199 (Robinson, R-Allegheny), which would change the membership of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission Board. In addition, the House Consumer Affairs Committee will consider:

  • H.B. 2606 (Miller, R-Lancaster), which would require a public utility to notify a landlord when utilities are being terminated due to lack of payment by the tenant; and
  • H.B. 2691 (Matzie, D-Beaver), which would require the Department of Human Services to expend all of the federal money it receives on an annual basis for the Low-Income Heating Assistance Program.

A full list of committee meetings can be found here:

House

Senate

In Other News

  • The Governor announced that new charter school regulations are ready for publication, after he vetoed, disapproved, and returned to the General Assembly a deficient concurrent resolution disapproving the regulations.
  • The Department of Human Services announced the plan selection period for Medicaid will be June 22 through August 16, ahead of the implementation of new physical health managed care agreements that will take effect September 1.
  • The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs launched a new tool to help Pennsylvanians find trusted, high-quality addiction treatment.